The Cat Games: The Story of the 1st Quarter Quell
by Dawn101907
Summary: When Calico Liberty hears the announcement of the 1st Quarter Quell, her world falls apart. She's certain that she will go into the arena, and has a hunch that her best friend will go with her. As her name is read off the card, she decides to do everything she can to get back to her friends. It's not like she has anything else to fight for. My version of the 25th Hunger Games.
1. Chapter 1

**Well everyone, it's me again. I thought I'd try my luck with posting two stories at the same time. I figured that if my sister is currently juggling four stories, then I can at least do two. The plot is admittedly slow at the beginning, but I think it'll pick up. Of course, I'm only on Chapter 4 of prewriting... hehe. **

**So, I bet your wondering just why this is called "The Cat Games." Well, you'll have to read and find out. But it'll be fully explained in a future chapter that I haven't written yet. Anyways, on with the story! I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it!**

**...Oh, one more thing. Almost forgot that dang disclaimer. Calico, would you mind?**

**Calico: Taylor doesn't own the Hunger Games. However, she does own me, Ethan, Saphira, all of the other characters, this plot, her computer, a Christmas tree, a...**

**Okay, that's enough Cali. On with the story now!**

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><p><em>The Cat Games: Calico's POV<em>

I sigh, watching out of the window boredly. My mind wonders as it always does when I'm sitting here. I can't get my mind off of the announcement. The announcement that will take place this afternoon, to be exact.

The Quarter Quell. It's a new twist that the Capitol has added in; every twenty-five years, a special rule will be added for that year only. Unfortunately, this is one of those years.

_I wonder… what kind of special rule will it be? It better not be anything dumb. Or anything that gets me in. Or either of my friends._

That's right, my friends. Both of which are sitting in a seat not far away from mine, not paying attention at all. They're too anxious, the twins are.

First is Ethan. He's my best friend in all of Panem. He's smart, but neither of us feel like he should be putting that brain of his to use. He hates school as much as I do. Luckily, just a few more years and all three of us can go work in the orchards.

The younger one is Saphira. At first, she was just a tag-along to us. She would follow us everywhere, asking annoying questions and bugging us to no extent. I got used to it over time, and eventually we just became friends. Simple as that.

"Miss Liberty, are you paying any attention?" the teacher asks, snapping me out of my trance.

"No, Mrs. Houston," I say, earning a laugh from the twins… and the rest of the class.

That's the mayor's wife. She's a teacher here at boring-land… uh, I mean school. She's bossy, rude, and everything else that adds up to be a bad teacher. It seems as though she picks on me out of all other students. Why wouldn't she, though? It's not like I ever get a break from the teasing.

The bell rings, and it feels like I'm the first one out of my seat. Ethan and Saphira follow close behind me. I hear whispers from the other students, but I ignore them. If they don't say nice things, then it doesn't matter what they think.

"Hey guys, wanna come over to my house for the announcement?" I ask my friends.

"Sure," Ethan says with a shrug.

"We'll ask our parents about it," Saphira adds.

"Sounds good. It's at five, so you guys should leave at around 4:45 to get to my house on time," I say.

"Okay, we'll meet you there," Ethan says.

We part ways since our houses are on opposite sides of the District. I begin walking to my house, the house of lonesomeness. I kick a pebble as I go until it flies off of the path. When I finally get to my house, I hear chirping coming from the backyard. I take a look, seeing that my tree in the backyard has a small family of mockingjays beginning to build a nest. It'll be good to have some company.

I walk into my house, taking a good look around. My ears twitch as I see a mouse in the corner.

"Hey little guy," I say, stroking its fur. I'm used to finding little animals that sneak into my house when I'm not home. I always treat them with care. Sometimes they're injured; other times they're just looking for a place to stay. I always look after them until they move on.

I stand back up as the mouse scurries off, taking another look around. No one else in here. Of course not. There never is. This empty house is just another reminder of the fact that, even though I'm only thirteen, I'm a lot more mature than I should be. Part of it is the constant threat of death. This is District 11, for crying out loud, there's death everywhere. But not in my family. Not in my nonexistent family.

I do have a family, actually. They just… kinda… shun me, you know? Hey, not my fault that they let the Capitol mess with me when I was a baby. You mess with the cat, you get the claws.

I spend the rest of the day alternating between worrying about the Quarter Quell announcement and taking care of animals. Finally, 4:45 rolls around. They don't show up. I guess that their parents- their fully functioning family- wanted them there with them to see the announcement.

Five o'clock comes sooner than I wanted it to, and the television screen flickers to life. President Georgios Snow gives a small speech about the welfare of Panem or some other crap that no one cares about. His 3-year-old son Coriolanus steadily carries a box of golden, glimmering cards to his father, pausing to wave at the cameras. He takes out one of them, which has the number "25" largely printed in it in bold black letters. He clears his throat, taking a look at the card before reading it aloud.

"As a reminder to the rebels that their children are dying because of their choice to initiate violence, every District will be made to hold an election and vote on the Tributes whom will represent them. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor."

The screen goes black, and cheering from the sick Capitolites blasts through the poor-quality speakers. I sit on my breaking, torn-up couch, not even thinking about it for once. My mind is on the announcement. My tail curls around the rest of my body as I shiver from his words, trying to figure out what he means. Ethan taught me a few years ago that paraphrasing things is helpful when trying to find out the meaning of a word. I decide to try that.

_Each District will hold an election, where they'll vote on this year's Tributes…_

I jump up from the couch, my hands clutching my head.

_No… this can't be happening! This has to be some sort of joke! They can't do this! They have no right to!_

I run up the stairs to my room, collapsing roughly onto the bed and staring at the ceiling. I try to breathe normally, but my tears overwhelm me. I have no choice but to become weak, even for just one second. I pull myself together in an instant when I hear the outside door open. I pretend to be asleep, hoping that they'll come back later. Ethan knows me better than that.

"I know you're awake," he says, coming to sit by me.

"I'm asleep, come back later," I mumble, hoping to turn it into a joke. He doesn't laugh.

"This is serious."

"Right…" I say. "What was serious again?"

Honestly, I'm trying to forget. I'm not doing a very good job of it though. Ethan just frowns, before motioning to downstairs.

"Yeah, I know. I…"

_No Calico, you can't cry. Not in front of your best friend. You can't cry. You can't let him know that you're worried. Everyone will forget about you and then they'll forget to vote for you. Oh, I wish…_

I can't help it, though. I told myself to never cry, and yet here I am, crying my eyes out in front of my best friend since kindergarten. He tells me that we'll make it somehow, and puts an arm comfortingly around my shoulder. And I realize just how much danger he's in, too. He's twelve, he has worse odds than I do at surviving- even if his birthday is in August. Everyone hates him at school, just for hanging out with me.

Me. That odd girl at school. The one with the cat ears _along with _her regular ears. The one with the tail. The one that everyone makes fun of. The girl that doesn't have parents. The one whose parents abandoned her. The girl who raises herself. The girl that the Capitol mutated. The one that the Capitol tried out a cure for cancer on when she was a baby. The girl who didn't even havecancer in the first place.

Why does he hang out with me in the first place? When I'm so much trouble to even be seen with? Because he wants to. That's why. That's the only reason why Ethan has ever done anything. He doesn't let anyone boss him around. He does things if he wants to. He never lets anyone's thoughts get to him.

Maybe that's why I'm so scared. I'm scared that I'll die, and never come back to see them. I always imagined that I'd be publicly executed for a crime that I didn't commit. That would be a way for the community to dispose of me without getting odd looks from the other Districts. That would be a way for them to get me out of the way.

But no, they've just found a better way. A way to break me. A way to break my friends. A way to break the ones that I care about. And I have to make sure that I get back to slap them in the face for it.

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><p><strong>Please don't hesitate to tell me any comments or ask any questions! I'll be able to answer them unless they give away a major plot point that happens later in the story. <strong>

**Calico: Can you tell them anyways? I wanna know what happens to me!**

**Um... no.**

**Calico: aw, but why not?**

**Because then it would ruin the surprise factor.**

**Calico: shoot.**

**Next estimated update: December 12, 2014**

**Still can't think of an ending sign,**

**~Dawn101907**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone who has read this story so far, it really made my day. Now on with the story!**

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><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

I look at myself in the mirror, wishing that three months hadn't passed so quickly. The twins and I have been trying to spend as much time together as possible. Saphira knows that she will definitely not be reaped this year, but none of us can say the same for Ethan and me. I'm certain that I won't escape from the Reapings this year. Ethan is uncertain, but we're all hoping for the best.

Since I know that I'm going into the Games, I've been putting together my strategy. The thing about me, though, is that I hate strategy. So I've decided that I'm going to wing it and hope for the best. Which is a strategy in itself. Either way, I plan on being the Victor unless someone kills me. But I won't go down for a fight. I probably have less to fight for than the others, but I'm not one of those little kids from an outlying District that'll give in without a second thought. I will fight, and I won't give up.

My Reaping outfit is a simple green t-shirt with a pair of jeans. The twins' mom bought it for me one day while taking Saphira shopping. They're like a second family to me. I put a clip into my hair, holding back the bangs that I'm trying to grow out. I tie my hair back into a ponytail, keeping it out of my face. I look at my cat ears, before putting a headband over them. I might as well try to look normal. I tuck my cat tail behind my shirt, making it invisible to other people.

Once I'm ready, I walk out of my house. Next time I come here, if I'm even alive at that point, I won't be living here anymore. I'll go to Victor's Village, where I'll wait for another victor to keep me company. District 11, in all the years of the Hunger Games so far, has never had a victor. Sure, there are other Districts that haven't won either. But District 11 is almost famous for it.

Closest we've ever had to a Victor was last year. She was 12, just like me at the time. And she was like me in other ways, too. The Capitol affected her a lot more than me. Her used-to-be pitch black hair turned red, and she gained orange cat ears and a tail. I don't know what her name was before; but everyone called her Tabitha- or Tabby, for short- after the incident, like they call me Calico. We hardly ever talked in school, but when we did we were like best friends. She got into the Final 2 last year, before getting caught in the District 2 girl's trap. And she was so close, too.

As I walk, I hear the whispers that I usually hear. I guess that I'm not fooling anyone with the headband. I might fool potential sponsors, though.

"Hey, look, it's the cat girl," one whispers.

"Yeah, she's such a freak."

"I convinced my parents to vote on her."

"Me too. Thank goodness we did. She's such a twit; she doesn't belong here."

I clench my teeth, ignoring their obvious attempts to anger me. _Control your temper, _I tell myself.

"Hey Anna! Wait up!" Ethan calls.

I turn around, thankful to have someone to talk to. Ethan and Saphira run up to me, easily catching up.

"Hey guys," I say.

"Trying to get sponsors?" Saphira asks, motioning to my hair.

"Yeah," I confirm. "No matter how hard it is, I'm going to try to be as normal as I possibly can."

"That sounds like a good plan," Ethan says.

"Thanks. When my stylist finds out, though, chances are they'll go cat-crazy on my outfit. And then I'll be doomed."

"Have you heard what the others are saying?" Saphira asks, changing the subject as usual.

"I have. They're being harsher than usual," Ethan agrees.

"I've noticed that too. I think that they should quit."

"Why don't they just stop?" Saphira asks.

"Because they don't want to," Ethan says.

"Then why don't the teachers stop them? Shouldn't they be doing something about it? They're our _teachers _for crying out loud! They should know better than that! Why don't they do anything?"

"Because they agree with the students," I say.

"Yeah, they shouldn't even be teachers the way they're acting," Ethan says.

We get to the Justice Building. The Peacekeepers grab each of our wrists, prick our fingers with a needle, and stick our fingers onto the paper. It hardly hurts, although Saphira winces in pain. I shake my head, before we head over to our places. We stand wherever we want to, so we all stand together. I stand on the very edge of the crowd, with Ethan next to me. Saphira stands on the other side of Ethan. Ethan looks around nervously. I don't blame him; this is his first year in the Reapings. Saphira doesn't look scared at all. She doesn't have anything to worry about until next year, I guess. I hold Ethan's hand as if to reassure him. I think I need to be calmed just as much as he does, though.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome, to the Reapings of the 25th annual Hunger Games!" our escort, Ederne, calls excitedly. We watch a short video that sums up the history of Panem in all its 25 years.

"Well," Ederne says, tapping on the microphone, "let's get on with choosing the brave young man and woman whom will represent this pigsty- I mean District 11, in the 25th Hunger Games."

_No, not brave. Just disliked more than the rest of the District. Just not accepted for who they are. Just as scared as everyone else._

"As usual, ladies first."

She walks to her right, pulling a slip of paper off of the table. She opens the seal on it, and she coughs before reading the name aloud.

"Calico Liberty!"

I let go of Ethan's hand, walking up to the stage as casually as if I were walking to school. I know that this is different, but I need to stay strong. I hear a single snarky remark, followed by another. They keep coming, until the entire crowd of 12-18 year olds is full of chattering. I chose to keep things as simple as possible today by ignoring them.

"Well, that was surprisingly simple this year," Ederne comments. "Now then, we will move on to the males."

Ederne walks over to her left as I step onto the stage. She picks up a card on a small table that is identical to the other one.

"The male Tribute in this year's Hunger Games is…"

Not Ethan, not Ethan, not Ethan…

"Pewter Stone!"

Who's that? Oh well, at least it won't be both of us. A boy that looks about 17 steps out of the crowd, heading toward the stage. For some reason, he seems familiar. And that's when it hits me that District 11 was either trying to be cruel and ironic, or they picked Tabby's brother on purpose. I don't know.

"I think that last name sounds familiar from somewhere. Pewter, would you mind telling me where it is from?" our nosy escort asks, momentarily giving him the microphone.

"Tabitha is my sister," he replies, narrowing his eyes warily.

"You mean "was!" She is dead now!"

I look at our escort in confusion, before this randomness spills out of my mouth:

"Looks like someone's had a bit too much to drink on that train," I comment.

_Shoot, that was only supposed to be heard in my mind!_

Anyways, the escort gasps in shock. "Well, I never!" she scoffs. "Please welcome your new Tributes this year, who will both hopefully end up dead in two weeks!"

I gladly shake my new District partner's hand, hoping to get away from this crazy woman. If I get out of the arena, I hope that I don't have to spend much time with her. She must have had too many Capitol drinks, like I said earlier. We let ourselves into the Justice Building, not waiting on our escort to dismiss us.

"I'm glad we got out of there quickly," I comment to no one in particular.

"Me too," Pewter says. "We would've gotten a lecture on manners for sure."

The Peacekeepers catch up, so they escort us the rest of the way to our separate goodbye-rooms. Still, I think that we'll get along just fine.

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><p><strong>Next estimated update: December 16, 2014 (may be earlier or later because I might be sick.)<strong>

**Still can't think of an ending sign,**

**~Dawn101907**


	3. Chapter 3

**Reviews:**

**Gabby Delacour- Thanks, you're the first reviewer I have on this story! Yep, Calico is more rebellious and mature, while Rose is sweet and calm-natured. I'm trying to write about all sorts of characters. Thanks, I try my hardest to make all my characters likeable! It looks like I'm succeeding on that :-)**

**On with the story!**

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><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

As soon as the Peacekeepers are done bossing me around and telling me "don't touch this," or "go this way," and "get away from that door!" they put me into a room and close the door behind me. Sure, I guess that I was being a bit overbearing, but I've always found it fun to try and see where the line is drawn for Peacekeepers. They're always so calm that it's hilarious to see them overreact about some little door with a "keep out" sign on it.

I sit down on one of the all-too-luxurious couches and begin swinging my feet boredly. I ponder on whether or not I should mess the couch up, but I decide against it. After all, I think that that would cross the line. Ethan comes in a few minutes later, escorted by two Peacekeepers. Saphira, for some reason, isn't with him. The Peacekeepers turn and leave, not giving us any indication on when Ethan will have to leave.

"Saphira had to go to violin practice," Ethan explains as soon as the Peacekeepers exit the room. "She wanted me to tell you goodbye for her."

"It figures. Can you tell her that I said bye?"

"Sure."

He sits down beside me. Although there's plenty of room on the couch, we sit close together. It's a habit that we've gotten into, since usually there's barely room for two. There really isn't very much to say, so we don't say anything. Neither of us likes to talk very much, which is a big difference from Saphira. She does enough talking for the three of us.

"When you get into the top 8," Ethan asks suddenly, "who will get interviewed?"

"I don't know. Probably you, Saphira, or one of your parents," I say. "It's hard to tell, though."

"Maybe they won't interview anyone," he says.

"Yeah, that's a possibility too."

A few seconds of silence pass.

"So what are you going to train in?" Ethan asks.

"I don't know; I haven't really thought about it. I don't want it to be something really impractical or anything."

"Like a mace?"

"Yeah, like a mace. I'd never use that again," I say, trying to imagine myself using a mace in the first place. I can't.

"So what would you use?"

"I'm not sure. I'll have to think about it on the train."

More silence. I sigh, trying to think of something to say. If _this_ is impossible, then what am I supposed to do for the interviews? I'll be doomed for sure.

"It's going to be weird without you here," Ethan says, breaking the silence.

"Same here; it'll be weird without you two always with me. I'll just have to work extra hard to get back."

"You're going to have to kill people," he says bluntly.

"Yeah, I know."

"How are you going to deal with it?"

I pause to think about it for a second. How _am _I going to deal with it? I've never killed anyone, and I haven't trained to do it like the Careers have. I certainly won't be able to kill like a Career. I saw Kalahari last year. She killed like a monster. She wasn't even fazed when she drove that spear through Tabitha's heart… I shudder at the memory. In a way, seeing someone with so much in common with me getting so brutally killed made me feel as if I myself were dying for just a moment. Of course, I wasn't really dying, but it felt odd seeing another outcast be in that situation.

"I don't know," I respond finally.

"If I were reaped, I'd go insane," Ethan says.

"But you weren't reaped," I say. "I don't know why they picked Pewter, but I'm going to find out one way or another."

The Peacekeepers barge in, and we both stand up.

"Time's up," one says in a monotone voice.

Ethan wraps his arms around my neck, giving me a hug as a way of saying goodbye. I hug him back, and after a few seconds we let go of each other.

"Bye Anna," he mumbles, using my real name like he always does. He's the only one who knows what it is, after all.

"Bye Ethan," I mumble back.

The Peacekeepers roughly grab his arms, and he lets them lead him out of the room. They close the door behind them.

I almost rush over to the door, fling it open, and punch one of them in the face, but I don't. This is what gets me in trouble at school all the time. Really though, I always get punished for defending my friends. What's the problem with that?

I feel something light hanging off of my neck. I grab it, pulling it slightly upward to get a better look at it. It turns out to be a necklace with a silver chain. It has a charm in the shape of a star attached to it. Ethan must have put it on when we were hugging. He's always been sneaky about things like that. For a minute, I wonder just how on earth I can bring it into the arena with me. That's when I remember about the token rule. Duh. This can be my token. It's not like I have anything better, and it'll remind me of them. That's the best kind of token in my opinion.

A Peacekeeper comes back into the room, stating that I have no more visitors. Thanks, Sherlock, I couldn't figure that out myself. I follow him out of the room, and he leads me to the train station. I meet up with Pewter there, and we get onto the train. The Peacekeepers close the door, and we're off to the Capitol. As soon as the train starts moving, I sit down on a cushioned chair, trying to get used to sitting on something other than wood. Pewter is doing the same. We don't try to have any form of conversation. Really, we'll have all week for that. Both of us are trying to get our thoughts sorted out. Finally, when I'm feeling a bit more level-headed about this whole thing, Pewter speaks up.

"So how'd you get here?" he asks.

"You might not want to know," I answer uncertainly. Surely he won't. It would remind him of his sister... but he doesn't know that.

"Yes, I want to know."

In response, I pull off my headband. Ederne gasps from the doorway as my cat ears pop up from my head.

"Surprise," I mumble.

"Another Capitol experiment gone wrong?" he asks.

"Yep."

"Ouch. That's how my sister got her ears and tail."

"Yeah, she was the Tribute last year, right?"

"Exactly," he says.

"Sorry about your sister."

"That's okay. I can't say I'm over it by now, but there's nothing either of us could've done about it."

"Good to know. So how'd_ you _get here?" I ask.

"I wanted to."

"You _wanted _to?"

"Yeah, I wanted to. Things in 11 aren't going very smoothly. My parents blame me for my sister's death, and everyone at school avoids me. This way, I'll be reunited with my sister."

"That is a surprisingly good plan," I say. "But, hey, you should've been thankful that you have parents."

"Why? Are you-"

"I know what you're going to ask. No; I'm not an orphan. I was abandoned though. My friends' parents helped raise me. I mostly raised myself though," I explain.

"Did it have to do with the Capitol?"

"Yep."

"No wonder you have such a creative last name. I haven't heard it in 11 before."

"Thanks, I picked it for myself."

"You remind me of my sister," Pewter says after he pauses for a moment.

"Really?"

"Yeah. It probably sounds weird, me saying that you remind me of my dead sister and all, but I was just saying. You're both around the same age, and you both have a lot in common."

Until now, Ederne has been ignoring us. But now she stomps up and begins lecturing us on how we should have been more polite onstage and blah blah this and blah blah that. Pewter and I roll our eyes once we think she's done. "Anyways," she says, huffing and flipping her hair over her shoulder, "since I will obviously need more than a bit of help with you two then I've called in an excess Victor from another District to help out. Hopefully I will be able to deal with you two until we get to the Capitol."

An 'excess Victor' is a Victor who already has two other mentors in their District. Until all of the Districts have at least one mentor, the Capitol has given every escort permission to call in a Victor to help mentor the Tributes if they're being overbearing. I guess we're being overbearing then. Ha-ha, I'll try to make it worse for her once we _really_ get into the Capitol.

I realize that Ederne just completely changed the subject of our conversation. Oh well. It wasn't going anywhere. All I know is that I remind my District partner of his dead sister. This is going to be an interesting week.

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><p><strong>So, how did everyone like this? Anyone who has also read "A Rose By Any Other Name" will know that this chapter may as well be titled "return of the keep-out-doors" which is actually really ironic. <strong>

**Next estimated update: December 20, 2014**

**Other than the ending sign that kakima54 is lending me, which is**

****Eternity is a long time; whether it will be joyful or distressing is entirely up to you.****

****I Still can't think of an ending sign,****

****~Dawn101907****


	4. Chapter 4

**Reviews:**

**Gabby Delacour: Yeah, that makes me feel like you're the only person reading this story. Yep, those are going to be a reoccurring thing in my stories and in my sister's stories. But in the sequel to my other story, they finally find out what is in the doors, so that'll be fun. I gave Calico a good stylist so that I could avoid that. Thanks! **

**On with the story!**

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><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

I absentmindedly play with my necklace as I stare out the window. It's been a day since I've seen Ethan and Saphira, and I'm already missing them. We should be pulling in to the Capitol any minute, but that doesn't help my anxiousness. In fact, it just makes it worse.

Pewter is sitting beside me, but neither of us notice each other. Too caught up in our own thoughts once again. It'll be weird when we actually have to talk to each other.

"Your boyfriend give you that?" he asks, breaking the silence.

"Huh?" I ask, turning to face him.

"Your necklace. Did your boyfriend give it to you or something?" he clarifies, still staring out the window.

"Oh, no. Ethan's just my friend," I say.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah. Positive."

"Hm."

He nods his head in understanding. I wonder if I should ask him about his token. Probably not. I decide to anyways.

"What's your token?" I ask. In response, he holds up his wrist, where a small bracelet rests. The bracelet looks as though it was made out of rope, and it's twisted into some sort of pattern. A small charm rests on it. On one side of the charm, which is a simple circle, has a "P" on it. The charm has a "T" on the other side.

"Pewter and Tabitha," he says.

"I should've thought as much. Let me guess, that was Tabitha's token too?"

"Yep."

"I thought so. I recognized it from last year's Games."

"Yeah, you did. It reminds me of my sister, and it'll make a nice slap-in-the-face to the Capitol."

"It will."

"Everyone, we are at the Capitol!" Ederne squeals excitedly.

"Great," I mutter sarcastically.

"Looks like we'll have to get it over with," Pewter says.

As Ederne walks to the door, Pewter and I have no choice but to follow her. The train door opens automatically. How did they get it to do that, anyways? The joyous mysteries of the Capitol. I put my headband back on before anyone sees me without it. I don't want the Capitol to know. Not just yet. I want to wait a little longer, just for the sake of it. Besides, they'd think I'm weird.

The Capitol fans scream as Pewter and I appear out of the train. We go as quickly as we can to get into the building. I don't want to stick around with these crazy Capitolites any longer than I have to.

We go straight to the Training Center, seeing all 24 victors standing with their Tributes. Some of them don't have Tributes, but they stand with other mentors from their District. Ederne walks off, getting lost in the crowd. Pewter and I exchange a confused look, before he begins looking around at the other Tributes.

"Looks like 12 beat us this year," he mumbles.

"Huh, that's unusual," I say. "They're usually close to the last to get here."

"Usually… nothing is 'usual' around here."

"Well, it's as close as Panem is going to get."

The District 12 girl looks over at us, and shyly smiles. I wave at her, but before she can do anything else the boy from her District pulls her away to talk to their escort. He puts his arm around her shoulders as if they've been that close millions of times.

"They know each other," Pewter mumbles, narrowing his eyes.

"You know, they probably do. Do you think they're dating?"

"They'd better not be. The Games will just tear them apart."

"Look who I've got!" Ederne squeals, dragging a Victor over to us. I can't see who it is from this far away, though. Looks like I'll have to find out.

"And _who_ is that?" Pewter asks.

"This, young man, is your new mentor," she says, snapping her fingers a few inches away from Pewter's nose. He blinks in surprise, before we both turn our attention to the mentor.

"Kalahari!" we both say in unison. Pewter narrows his eyes, barely restraining himself from strangling our new mentor. I just hiss, trying not to claw her to death using my fingernails, which are actually ordinary.

"Yeah, me," she mumbles.

"Everyone, we need to get to our room if we will be able to beat the crowd. The elevator must not be too crowded if we will make a safe trip to our rooms."

Pewter and I follow our escort and our mentor, staying away from the latter at all costs. Apparently, we weren't the only ones with the idea of going to our rooms early. District 12 gets onto the elevator with us. The Tributes end up standing beside us, apparently trying to stay away from their mentor, Virtue Corona from District 1, too.

"Avoiding your mentor?" Pewter asks.

"Yeah," the girl says. "She killed my uncle when they got into the top 2. I already have a bad feeling about this"

"Oh... same here. Well, I mean, with my sister instead of my uncle. And, you know, all that."

"You're acting weird," I tell my District partner.

"Ignore her," he says.

"Whatever," the boy from 12 says, scoffing and narrowing his eyes at Pewter.

"What did I say?" Pewter asks.

The elevator dings, and we step off of it. District 12 stays on the elevator, and I realize that they still have to go up an entire floor.

"Bye," the girl says, inching away from her mentor.

"Bye," I say back.

"Good luck with your Tributes," Kalahari says, shaking hands with the older mentor.

"Thanks. I think you'll need it more, though," Virtue says, laughing.

"I think we'll both need a miracle this year."

The escorts just briefly nod, before the elevator door closes.

"Good riddance to him," Pewter mumbles.

"The boy from 12?" I ask.

"Yep."

"I agree wholeheartedly. He was rude."

"Young children, do not talk about people in such a way! He may turn out to be a wonderful young man," Ederne says.

"Yeah, and he could be a back-stabbing murderer," Pewter mumbles, crossing his arms.

"It makes you wonder," I add.

"Enough goofing off, everyone. We need to watch the Reapings," Kalahari says.

"You know, I think I'm older than you," Pewter says, looking at our mentor.

"Excuse me?" she asks, tilting her head slightly.

"When's your birthday?" I ask.

"Um… July 8, Year 7. Why?"

"Ha, I'm two months older. May 25th."

"So my first Tribute is older than me by two months. What about you?" she asks.

"February 17th," I say. "But I'm obviously younger than all of you."

"I know," Kalahari says. "Just curious."

We get into the living room, and Ederne immediately turn on the TV. I lean against the wall as Ederne selects the option to replay the Reapings. District 1's male is no one that stands out. Some guy named Ascalon. The girl has shiny silver hair and gray eyes, but you can obviously tell that she's about 17. Onyxi is her name. She looks pretty confident in her skills, but I wonder how long that'll last. When District 2 flashes on the screen, Kalahari leans toward the screen. When the female is reaped- someone named Sahara- Kalahari screams so loudly that we can't hear the escort call the male's name.

"What was she thinking?" Kalahari fumes, burying her face into her hands.

"It's just some random girl from 2," Pewter begins.

"That so-called 'random girl' is my sister!" she screams.

"What?" I ask confusedly. "You two look nothing alike."

"Because we're fraternal," she mumbles.

"Huh?"

"We're twins."

For some reason, my hands turn into fists. I thought that twins are supposed to be _rare_ in Panem. Apparently not. Still, I guess that in Career Districts they'd be pretty common. Two chances to have a Victor in the family, I guess. But still, something doesn't seem right about this.

"So wait, you won when you were seventeen?" I ask. I thought that she was eighteen.

"Yep," she says, beginning to regain control. "I'm going to the District 2 floor."

I look at the screen, but I can't see Kalahari sitting with the other Victors. She must've already been in the Capitol, waiting for her Tributes. Why she was already here in the first place, though, is what begins bothering me.

Kalahari steps into the elevator as the District 4 girl, Alanda, has her name called. I begin zoning out, and I snap out of my thoughts when I hear my own name called. I see myself on the screen, and realize that I looked a lot braver and more courageous than I thought I did. I see myself as I let go of Ethan's hand, realizing that that's going to be tough to explain during the interviews.

Next to be reaped is Pewter. He looks as calm as can be, and walks up to the stage as if he's done it a million times. He looks strangely relieved to be fighting to the death. I guess that he really _does_ want to go see Tabby again. I don't really blame him, though. I'm not sure if I have any siblings, but if I did then I think I'd be sad if they died or even were reaped.

After that is District 12. Their names are, apparently, Daysi Everdeen and Coal Hawthorne. Daysi looks shocked that she was chosen, while Coal just walks up to the stage. Wait…

"Go back," I say. Ederne scoffs, but complies. I study Coal's face as closely as I can. Is that… a smirk? Why does he look so smug? He looks as if he'll… enjoy this. How cruel is this guy?

"That guy has problems," Pewter mumbles.

"Yeah, definitely," I agree. "He looks as if he's looking forward to this."

_I wonder if he's as cruel as my parents. Probably._

"Come on everyone!" Ederne squeals, turning the TV off with the click of a button. "We must go and meet your stylists!"

"Do we have to?" I ask.

One of the few things that Pewter and I talked about on the train was stylists. Apparently, Tabby wrote a letter back home, saying how things were going in the Capitol. She sent it a day before she went into the arena. Ironically, it arrived in District 11 a day after she died. That's not the point. Anyways, she said that her stylist was horrible. I don't want to get that one.

"Of course you do! Now stop whining and let's go already!"

I sigh, standing up and wondering just how much torture I'll be able to stand before I get fed up with my stylist. Considering my experience in the Capitol so far, probably not much.

* * *

><p><strong>Next estimated update: December 23, 2014<strong>

**Eternity is a long time; whether it will be joyful or distressing is entirely up to you.**

**Still can't think of an ending sign,**

**~Dawn101907**


	5. Chapter 5

**Reviews:**

**Arabian3332: Thank you so much! I try my best.**

**On with the story!**

* * *

><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

"Well, who do we have here?" my stylist asks as I walk in, Kalahari following close behind me. We met back up on the elevator so that she could guide us to our stylists and their workrooms.

"This is Calico Liberty," Kalahari says, pushing me slightly forward. "She's going to be the Tribute you design for this year."

"I know," she says. "Just pulling your strings."

She steps forward to where she is visible. I take a long look at her, trying to decide just_ how much_ pink is _too much_ pink. She's probably the answer to that. Her skin is permanently dyed hot pink. Her hair, which is light pink- except for the very front, which is mint green- is styled in a ponytail with a braid running around it, with some extra hair hanging loosely behind her shoulders. Her eyes are dark pink, and they look like they're slightly squinting. From what I can guess, the cause of that was long nights staying up designing outfits. She has two silver earrings and one pink earring hanging from each ear. A golden metal strap with three pink jewels set into it is fastened around her forehead.

"Nice to meet you, Calico," she says, extending her hand for a handshake. "I'm Fushia."

"Nice to meet you too," I say, shaking her hand. Honestly, I'm not sure what to think about my stylist. Sure, she seems nice enough, but still… she's made it quite clear that she is a Capitolite, and a proud one at that. I'm not sure if I can trust her.

"I'll go back to the District 11 floor," Kalahari says, turning her back on us and opening the door. "Nice meeting you Fushia."

"Running off so soon?" my stylist asks. "That's fine. We'll have time to chat later."

"Yeah, sure," Kalahari says, waving it off easily and leaving.

"Um, sorry about her," I say. "She's rude."

"Been there, experienced that. Apologies in advance if you get made fun of for your costume. My Tribute last year did. Poor little girl," she mumbles.

"What was her name?" I ask. Was she possibly Tabitha's stylist?

"Mazie Barric. She was the girl from District 9 last year. Poor kid, didn't even get to tell her ally goodbye. Kalahari killed her in the bloodbath. She was the first to go," Fushia adds.

"Who was her ally?" I ask as my stylist digs through a large closet for a particular outfit.

"I don't remember her name too well. Let me think for a moment… Oh yes, now I remember. Tabitha Stone, or something along those lines."

"That's my District partner's sister," I say. "She was in the top 2 last year."

"Yes, and then Kalahari killed her as well. Shame on her, doing something so awful to those poor kids. They were both no older than 13, to make matters worse."

"Why does she deserve to be a Victor, anyways?" I ask.

"She doesn't, sweetie. But sometimes certain things happen to you that you don't deserve, whether for bad or for good. Say you're blamed for something you didn't do. That would be bad. But let's say that, under some turn of events, you got out of this thing alive. That'd be good, but it would also make you a murderer, whether directly or not. I'm not sure if you'd deserve it either."

"Well, I'm not planning on killing ruthlessly or anything. But I wanna stay alive, so…"

"Sometimes the right thing to do is difficult to understand. Then, the only thing you can do is pick between the lesser of two evils. And sometimes, that is harder than doing the right thing."

"How did you get to be so good at answering things like this?" I ask her.

"Extra schooling, darling. I've always been fascinated by school and everything in it. I learned as much as I could there."

"Exact opposite of me. What made you want to be a stylist out of every other option?"

"It's always interested me. From the time I heard about the Tributes having people who design outfits just for them, I was sold. I began studying fashion as early as I could, along with lots of other subjects. Ah, speaking of Tributes' outfits, here it is!"

Fushia pulls something out of the closet, turning around and showing it to me. It's a blue dress that I think will only go down to, I don't know, I'd say maybe two inches above my knee. I can't tell from here, though. Anyways, the dress is pretty simple compared to how I've seen some others decorated. The dress is pale blue with a slight flowered pattern on it. The sleeves are pretty long considering that it's summer, but at least it _has _sleeves. The bottom of the dress has a small, lighter blue line across it. There's a small pink belt sewn onto it, complete with a ribbon.

"Do you like it?" my stylist asks, her smile broadening when I nod my head. "I mean, this is my first year in District 11, and only my third year over all…"

"It's great," I tell her. Honestly, it is. This is one of the few times that I won't mind wearing pink. I change into it as quickly as possible. At least Fushia has the decency to look away. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

To my surprise, the dress actually comes down a bit _past _my knees. Wow, this is different then what District 11 usually gets. A sleeveless, impractically short overall outfit made of bulky jean material, perfect for sweating the entire Parade, is the normal outfit for my District. Looks like this year really _will _be different.

* * *

><p>"Now remember," Fushia says as I step up into the chariot, "keep a smile on at all times. Appear friendly, but not too friendly. And make sure the smile isn't fake. A real, genuine smile is best. Oh, almost forgot…"<p>

Without warning, she takes off my headband. My cat ears spring up from the top of my head. As quickly as I can, I snatch the headband back and place it back in its rightful place on top of my head.

"Oh my, that's unusual…"

"Ever wonder why Tabby was that way too? My answer would be her answer," I add.

"Well_ I_ think it's adorable," Fushia reassures.

"Any potential sponsors would forget it and pick a different Tribute. I'm from an outlying District; I'm gonna need as much help with sponsors as I can get," I insist.

"You're right," she mumbles.

She begins digging around in her bag. Her hands reappear in a moment, dragging a cowgirl hat with them.

"I was carrying this around, just in case I was given District 10 this year," she says, placing it on my head.

"Thanks," I say, slipping the headband off in a way that the cowgirl hat can stay on. I don't know what it looks like, but I'm sure it looks fine, seeing how Fushia nods her head in approval.

A few seconds later, Pewter comes out with his stylist. I can't really tell what he's dressed in because of the crowd, but I'm sure it's fine. They're stylists, after all. And either way, neither of us would mind if we looked ridiculous. Pewter glances behind us at the District 12 chariot, immediately turning his head back around.

"Don't look behind you," he mumbles. Instinctively, I begin stealthily twisting my head around, trying to see what's going on. He grabs my hat, turning me back toward the District 10 chariot.

"What are you, insane?" he asks, his face maintaining a 'what the heck' look.

"What is it?" I ask.

"District 12… coal mining…" he says, stifling laughter.

I grab my chance to turn around. I see the top half of Coal's body plastered with some sort of black soot-ish stuff. I think it's supposed to be coal. Irony, maybe? Anyways, I don't want to see the other half of his body, so I turn back around.

"Calico, what am I going to do with you?"

"Hey, I didn't see anything!" I say as I hear Daysi step onto the platform.

"This is ridiculous," she mumbles. "And I don't want to hear any of your _comments_."

"I think you look-"

"Seriously? I look ridiculous, you look ridiculous, and District 12 is going to be a laughingstock for the next 50 years or so. This is going to be a disaster."

"It won't be that bad."

"Yeah, because you're a guy, and you don't have as much that needs to be covered up. Although it should be anyways. And s-"

Our chariot lurches forward, and Daysi suddenly quiets down. I guess that she doesn't want Panem to witness her yelling at her District partner.

As soon as the crowd sees us, they continue their applause. A few seconds later, I can tell that District 12 is on their way too, because the applause changes into laughter. And not the kind of laughter that happens when someone's having fun. A twisted, mocking laughing sound that I've grown used to in the past 13 years of my life. I feel bad for District 12. Really, I do. But it's mainly for Daysi. I have little sympathy for Coal, though. I don't know why, other than the fact that he looks perpetually angry. But I don't trust him, not one bit.

* * *

><p><strong>Next estimated update: December 27, 2014<strong>

**Eternity is a long time; whether it will be joyful or distressing is entirely up to you.**

**Still can't think of an ending sign,**

**~Dawn101907**


	6. Chapter 6

**On with the story!**

* * *

><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

After President Snow gives a little speech on the welfare of Panem or something (I never pay attention to those big lying speeches) then we begin heading back to the Training Center. As soon as we get back, Pewter and I hop off our chariot. My legs are tired from standing up so much, my arms are tired from alternating between waving to my left and waving to my right, and I pretty much would be content with going up and calling it a night. But apparently I have to stay here and 'socialize' until Kalahari gets back to pick us up.

I look around before coming to the conclusion that Kalahari hasn't arrived yet. When I tell this to Pewter, he just nods his head with a half blank look on his face.

"What is it?" I ask.

"I'm trying to think."

"About what?" I press.

"About if we need allies or not."

"I think we do need allies."

"Why?" Pewter asks, turning toward me.

"Well, it'd get kind of lonely in the arena without them," I say. "But I guess I know how it'd be a setback. We'd have to say goodbye to them eventually. I mean, there's only one Victor."

"Yeah, but still…" Pewter says as he turns his head back to look to the crowd of Tributes gathered.

"You want to ally with Daysi, don't you?" I ask.

"Well, in a way I do. I think it'd be best if we-"

Daysi and Coal walk past us, looking around for their mentor. I motion them over to talk to us, and Daysi literally drags Coal over to us.

"Hey guys," she says, letting go of Coal.

"Hi Daysi," I say. "It's nice to see that you two have clothes on now."

"Yeah, I was almost dying of embarrassment out there," Daysi says, brushing some coal off her hand. Pewter and Coal just glare at each other.

"Pewter," I say. "Be nice."

Coal childishly sticks his tongue out at Pewter.

"That goes for you too, Coal," Daysi says, roughly elbowing her District partner in the side.

"Ow," Coal mumbles. "You could've been nicer about that, sweetheart."

"Whatever," she says, rolling her eyes.

"Sweetheart?" Pewter asks in disbelief, before going sarcastic. "What are you two, married?"

They exchange a look.

"Well?" I ask, narrowing my eyes slightly in concern.

"No," Daysi says, turning back to us.

"Yes," Coal insists.

"What's going on here?" Pewter asks.

"Well, back in _12_ we were engaged, but…"

"Engaged?" we ask in unison.

"Yes, engaged. Things are strange in 12. Your parents marry you off as soon as you get out of teenage years. You don't actually get married until after the Reapings of when the youngest one is 18, but you can get engaged any time before or after that," Daysi says bitterly.

"Wow, that's weird," I say.

"Yeah, it feels weird too," Daysi says.

"So are you two, like, you know…" I begin, trailing off as I can't think of the right words.

"In love?" Pewter spits, finishing my sentence.

"No," Daysi says, throwing up her hands.

"Yes," Coal says, elbowing Daysi.

"No, Coal, we aren't," Daysi says.

"Of course we are, Daysi. Why would we be engaged if we weren't?"

"Because of arranged marriages, that's why," she snaps. "Back in 12 things might've been different, but not here. We're both going to die unless one of us somehow makes it out. This isn't District 12. This is the Capitol, and we're going to be fighting for our lives in less than a week."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Coal asks.

"It has to do with _everything_. Look, let's just put the whole 'engaged' thing behind us. We're just friends, Coal. We've never been anything more. And we're both going to be dead in two weeks, anyways."

Coal doesn't say anything. He turns his back on us, mumbling something to Pewter as he does so, and stomps away.

"Sorry about him," Daysi apologizes. "He has voluntary anger issues."

"That's okay," Pewter says, although I can tell that it's not. "Everyone has flaws."

"His is more than a flaw," she says, rolling her blue eyes. "It's going to be dangerous to us all in the arena."

"Yeah, if he gets mad about something he could start going on a killing rampage or something," I say.

"Thankfully, we're from District 12, and as bad as it sounds, we most likely won't make it past the bloodbath."

"You'll make it," Pewter says.

"I hope so," she mumbles, looking at the floor.

After our mentors come and pick us up (and Virtue and Kalahari spend a few minutes talking) then we go back up to our floor. Ederne insists that we get some sleep, even though it isn't _that _late. We have no choice but to agree, since we apparently have a "big big day tomorrow!"

I collapse onto my bed, instantly feeling the difference from my bed at home. The mattress is soft and comfortable, as opposed to the raggedy feel of my bed at home. The blankets are fluffy and even softer than the mattress. I remember that the sheets on my old bed were prickly and made out of sewn together… what was it, goat hair? Or maybe it was rabbit fur. I can't remember. Anyways, the pillow is the softest thing I've ever felt in my entire life. My head sinks into it, and I briefly remember that I'm still in my Parade costume. That thought is forgotten as I fall into a welcomed sleep.

* * *

><p>I wake up to Ederne's ear-piercing squeal. The only thing she accomplishes by waking me up is making me burrow deeper into my sheets. A few seconds later, she shakes me repeatedly and yells in my ear once again. I sigh, half getting and half rolling out of bed. I slept better than I have in months last night. I don't know what the Capitol makes this stuff out of, but they need to give some of it to the Districts. They'd appreciate it.<p>

After brushing my hair, pulling it into a ponytail, changing clothes, and putting on my necklace, I walk out the door. To my dismay, Ederne is standing there waiting on me. As I begin walking to the kitchen, she follows me and begins to rant.

"You need to wake up on time," Ederne comments, flipping her green hair over her shoulder. "Pewter and Kalahari are already eating their breakfast, and you are apparently more concerned about getting more sleep than you need! Shame on you!"

"No one woke me up in the first place," I defend, rolling my eyes.

"Well, you should still wake up when you're supposed to," Ederne says as we enter the kitchen, not able to think of a better comeback.

"Ooh, _that's_ a good one," I say.

"Really?" Ederne asks genuinely, not picking up the sarcasm in my voice. "It is great that you think so."

"Glad you're awake, Calico," Kalahari says as I sit down.

"She's been sleeping the morning away, hasn't she?" Ederne asks, looking at the others with a look that means they should agree or suffer the consequences.

"Actually, I just got up a few minutes ago," Pewter says, shrugging and getting back to eating.

"Yeah, and I've only been up for thirty minutes. Mentor stuff," she adds.

"Good to know," I say as we all three look at Ederne.

"Well, I must be off now," Ederne says, laughing slightly as she heads toward the elevator. "There's an escort meeting at 10:00 this morning at the stage of the interviews and I cannot miss it."

She gets on the elevator as soon as it arrives, pressing the button as quickly as possible.

"Ha, no there isn't," Kalahari says with a scoff. "There's a _Victors' _meeting there today at ten. The escorts aren't invited."

"Cool," I say, but I'm really not that interested in it. I just want training to get over with.

We finish the rest of our breakfast quickly, before getting on the elevator. I'm still barely used to the feeling that we're going eleven stories down and not even moving an inch, but I think I'm getting strangely familiar with it. Kalahari tell us that she'd love to go to training with us, but needs to get to that meeting. We're perfectly okay with it. I can tell that neither of us wants to spend time with our mentor. And any time that we _do _spend with her is completely mandatory.

Training is slow that day. I decide to save tree climbing for my private sessions. Instead, I work on knot-tying while trying to think about what weapon I'd like to use. Like I told Ethan, I don't want to use something that I'll get back to 11 and never use again. I want it to be something I can actually make good use of my knowledge of.

As I think, the day goes on. I go to fire making after lunch, hoping to pick up some skills there. Afterward, I try making hammocks. I'm not very good at it, but I try to improve. I meet up with Daysi there. She looks like she's getting the hang of it. She gives me a few tips, before going to the tree climbing station.

After training is done, I'm surprised to see Fushia standing at the door. When she sees me, she waves me over to talk to her.

_Oh no,_ I think as I walk over to my stylist. _What now?_

* * *

><p><strong>Updates may not be as quick as they're supposed to; my best friend and her family are coming in from ten hours away, and I'm going to be busy for the rest of the week spending as much time as possible before they have to go back to Middle-of-Nowhere. Thursday and Friday are going to be spent in a hotel, but I'll try to bring my new Kindle Fire there and update, although it may not work. I'll have to work around it if it doesn't.<strong>

**Next estimated update: December 31, 2014**

**Eternity is a long time; whether it will be joyful or distressing is entirely up to you.**

**Still can't think of an ending sign,**

**~Dawn101907**


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't have time to post review responses here; I will on the next chapter.**

* * *

><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

"Hi Fushia," I say as I walk up to my stylist.

"Hello Calico," she says. "I suppose I could have waited until tomorrow, but I had to show you something that Kalahari and I have developed."

"I thought you didn't like her," I respond.

"Well, we don't get along very well, sure; but we both had the same idea for you. Tell me, have you already chosen a weapon?"

"No, I haven't," I tell her, deciding to be honest. "I want something that I'll be likely to use after the Games are over."

"Well, you're in luck," she says, peering into her bag and searching for something.

"Oh, by the way," I say. "I left the hat in my room. I'll get it back to you one of these days."

"Sounds good to me," she says. "Ah, here they are."

She pulls them out, and at first I'm confused as to what they are. They're metal things that look a bit like knives, but not quite. They look small, but they're big enough to fit between my fingers. They're all connected at the bottoms, and there are about three of them put together. She pulls out another one that is identical to them.

"What are those?" I ask as she hands me one of them.

"Silly cat, these are your claws," she says. I instantly see the resemblance to cat claws in them.

"Oh, I see! How do they work?" I ask.

She shows me how they fit between my fingers, and shows me how to connect and disconnect them at any time. She says that it's so that storage becomes easier, but also says that this means that I can use them as knives if I take them all apart. She walks over to a dummy in the knife section with one of them, showing me how to slash my opponents with them.

"Hey Calico, are you coming?" Pewter asks as he steps onto the elevator with Daysi, Coal, and a few other Tributes.

"Nah, I think I'll stay here and train some more. If I can," I add, taking a glance at my stylist.

"Of course we can," she says, looking over at me. "The Gamemakers cleared it, and gave me this pass." She holds up a small card before continuing. "If a Peacekeeper questions us about what we're doing out so late, we just show them this card and they let us through."

"Cool," I say as I readjust my headband.

"Well, see you back on District 11's floor," Pewter says as the elevator door closes.

"Bye!" I call back.

I spend the rest of the evening training with Fushia on how to use my new weapon. I get pretty good at it before Fushia looks at her watch. She says that she needs to get back to her design studio, and I set my claws down on a table in the corner of the room. We say goodbye for now to each other, before she leaves to go back to her studio. I decide to take the stairs this time. I'm not very fond of the elevator so far.

As I walk up the stairs, I see two figures standing outside District 2's floor. I duck behind a small plant that I find, deciding that walking past them wouldn't be the wisest idea. They might think that I've been listening a lot longer that I actually have. That would only cause trouble. Of course, the only thing to do in this situation is eavesdrop.

"And you're sure this'll work?" a female voice asks boredly.

"Positive. The Capitol will love it. Besides, it's always a nice twist for-"

"For someone from an outlying District to join with the Careers, I know. But still, I'm not sure if we can trust you yet."

"Just wait; by the end of training I'll prove to you that I'm Career material."

"Well, I suppose that trust has never been too much of an issue in the Careers. We never trust each other."

"Exactly; to us in the outer Districts, Careers seem like their alliance is loosely held together. Even the slightest of arguments could tear them apart," the male voice says.

"I'll consider it. Prove to me that you are capable of thinking, acting, and killing like a Career, and you'll be in."

"Sounds like a plan. How do I prove it to you?"

"Humiliate District 11. I don't care how you do it; just bring them down. Those two seem like unusually major threats for such an outlying District."

"Okay. Why?"

"Personal reasons. I despise anyone from that idiotic District anyways. That girl last year made my sister go soft. She said last year that she saw how flawed the Career system was or something of the sort. We could've made a great mentoring team if she hadn't gone all happy-skippy-rainbows. Kala is a softie and she needs to be taught a lesson. Her first year of mentoring and it's not even for her own District! What a loser! And she tried reasoning with me to not join up with the Careers. Of course I'll be here; I'm the leader! They need me, and they know it. She said that she doesn't want me becoming 'one of them,' whatever that means," the girl rants, straightening her ponytail. That must be Sahara, Kalahari's sister.

"So let me get this straight. You want me to humiliate your sister's temporary District… how, exactly?"

"Stealthily, tactfully, and make sure no one knows it was you. Second thought, skip the tact. Insults are better without it."

"Okay then. That still doesn't help."

"You're not supposed to know exactly what you need to do. Just get on my good side by getting on their bad side."

"Got it," he says, beginning to climb the stairs.

Sahara doesn't even say goodbye. Instead, she looks around, looking for any eavesdroppers. When she's satisfied that she doesn't see anyone, she walks into the door, letting it close behind her. After making sure that she's really gone, I turn around and walk a few steps back, before walking back up at my usual noise. That way, Sahara will never know someone was watching. Whatever they were talking about, I'll get to the bottom of it. I realize that I also need to figure out who she was talking to in the first place. Whoever it was, they're not getting away with it.

Not if I can help it.

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><p><strong>Still can't think of an ending sign,<strong>

**~Dawn101907**


	8. Chapter 8

**So sorry, don't have time to post review responses right now. I will next chapter.**

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><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

As soon as I wake up a few days later, I wearily look at the small calendar that hangs on the wall. July 8th. Today is the private sessions with the Gamemakers. Well, that just made my day… not. I realize that I've beat Ederne today; she hasn't come in yet. That's a relief. My mind wanders back to a few days ago. I haven't figured out who Sahara was talking to, or why she needs help making our lives miserable. She does a good job of that already. Why she needs help is beyond me.

I've begun trying to rule out people, but it's hard to tell. The only person that I can rule out for now is Pewter. Sahara was talking about District 11 as if she wants both of us humiliated. Pewter wouldn't try to make himself embarrassed. No one would. That leaves Coal and every other male Tribute this year. I'm making progress. Minimal progress, but it's still progress either way.

I get dressed into my training outfit, not bothering to put on my headband. Yesterday, while I was training in the fire-making section, I tripped on a large stick that someone had left out by accident. I couldn't catch myself in time, and I went flying onto the floor. My headband fell off when I fell, and everyone saw my cat ears. They started laughing, too. Well, everyone except Daysi and Pewter, of course. But I'm used to being laughed at, so I didn't mind. I just put my headband back on, stood up, and kept walking.

Anyways, I slip my necklace over my head, brush my hair and tie it up in a ponytail, and open the door to the hallway. Ederne has her hand raised in a fist and is about to knock on the door when I do so. She looks shocked, to say the least, but I walk right past her and into the kitchen. I sit down at the table, where food is already set out. I think about how many people this would feed back in 11. At least ten, if not more. I don't eat any more than I need to; I don't want to get too full, or else I won't feel good. I learned that lesson yesterday morning.

When Pewter, Ederne, and Kalahari are done eating, we all go down to ground level using the elevator. Ederne walks in the opposite direction as we do. Kalahari, Pewter, and I all walk into the waiting room for the private sessions. Kalahari stays for a few minutes, but leaves with the rest of the mentors once all the other Tributes get here. The trainer says that we will spend the first half of the day training some more, since most of us obviously need it. The trainer dismisses us, and we scatter into the main training room. I end up at the camouflage station with a few others. I try camouflaging myself, but am ready to give up after a few minutes. I'm about to leave when someone speaks up.

"You're doing it wrong," a voice says. I turn my head around, seeing the boy from 6 looking at me with an almost amused look.

"How would you know?" I ask, walking over to him after a bit of hesitation.

"Ebenos is my mentor," he says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

Ebenos, the second victor from District 6, won the year before Kalahari. He was a master of camouflage; after all, he did hide out most of his Games until there were only a few people left. His mentor, Savros, doesn't even know that much about camouflage.

"Well, how do you camouflage yourself?" I ask, wanting to get to the point.

He shows me how I was going about it the wrong way. Apparently, I was getting a ton of mud and smearing it on my arm. You're supposed to get a bit of mud, put it on your arm, and go back for more. Once I get the hang of it, the trainer calls us back for Gamemaker sessions.

"Thanks," I say.

"You're welcome," he says. "I never introduced myself. I'm Judas."

"Calico," I say as we shake hands. Honestly, I can't say that I trust him too much, but I trust him more than I do Sahara.

We walk back to the smaller side room, and I meet up with Pewter and Daysi on the way. Coal hasn't made an appearance since the Parade, and I'm beginning to get suspicious. We all four end up talking for a while until Judas gets called up for private sessions.

"Well, he seemed nice enough," Pewter admits reluctantly.

"Yeah, I guess," I say, picking at some leftover mud on my arm.

"I wouldn't mind being in an alliance with him, but something…" Daysi begins. However, before she can continue, Coal walks up to us.

"Hey Daysi, hey District 11 brats," he says.

"Hey District 12 snob," I say.

Daysi just sighs, shaking her head.

"What were you saying about alliances?" Pewter asks, turning his attention back to Daysi.

"Never mind," she says.

"If you say so," I shrug.

Coal and Pewter begin arguing, and Daysi and I exchange a look. We begin discussing how immature they can be at times. I agree wholeheartedly about being immature. I mean, I'm not the most mature person in Panem, but I still know when it's time to stop talking and when it's impolite to begin arguing. Sure, that doesn't mean that I necessarily _use _my knowledge, but I still know that stuff.

Pewter's name is called, and Coal immediately laughs that he wins the argument.

"Your escort's moustache. Your agreement is invalid," Pewter says before walking away.

"Huh?" I ask.

"Our escort has a crazy-looking moustache," Daysi explains.

"Oh," I say.

Coal just thinks for a minute, before shrugging and walking away.

"Where's he going?" I ask Daysi.

"Who knows?" she says, sighing and shaking her head. "My District partner is insane."

I'm about to tell her my theory of Coal being part of Sahara's alliance, but then I realize that it's just the three of us in here and he's just sitting by himself. I shut my mouth, deciding to keep quiet for now. I wait for them to call my name by talking to Daysi. We decide that, if we can, we should ally with each other. It's a pretty well-known fact in the Training Center that it's best to have your mentor's permission before allying with anyone, but we agree to ask Virtue and Kalahari about it once we get back to our floors.

They call my name next. I say bye to Daysi, before walking away into the Gamemaker room. I briefly wonder if I should be concerned that Daysi and Coal are in a room alone, but decide that Daysi can punch him in the face if he gets too rude.

When I introduce myself to the Gamemakers, I notice that they're barely paying attention. Some of them are, but the rest of them are talking around a large table. I shake my head as a large, dead pig with an apple in its mouth is wheeled out on a silver platter, along with fresh fruits from District 11, bread rolls from 9, and fish from 4. That single meal for the Capitol would probably feed a fourth of the population of District 11.

I see that my claws have been laid out by Fushia. I pick them up, readying them between my fingers. A few more Gamemakers turn their attention to me, and I can tell that they've been wondering what those were for. I find a knife dummy that hasn't been torn up by knives, slashing at it to my heart's content. I realize that these weapons are more lethal than they look like they are. I'll have to be careful with them in the arena.

After I'm done with that, I go to the climbing section. I've always enjoyed climbing, which is why I thought I'd be a good worker in the orchards. The thought crosses my mind that, if I survive the Hunger Games, I wouldn't have to work at all. As I climb, I decide that I still would. The orchards need more workers than it's getting, so I've heard that they might need to cut some trees down. That would cost more money than District 11 has.

I get to the top of the fake tree, which almost touches the ceiling. By now all of the Gamemakers are looking at me except for a few. A Gamemaker looks at the time, before stating that my time is up. I can tell that some of the Gamemakers wonder how I'm going to get down quickly enough. I smile, swinging my feet over the edge of the branch. I push myself off, using my cat reflexes to land on my hands and feet.

"You know what they say," I begin, my tail swishing in amusement at their shocked expressions. "A cat always lands on all four feet."

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><p><strong>Eternity is a long time; whether it will be joyful or distressing is entirely up to you.<strong>

**Still can't think of an ending sign,**

**~Dawn101907**


	9. Chapter 9

**Reviews:**

**Gabby Delacour: I would've given her a higher score than what she gets, but then she would be a bit too much like Katniss and she already has too many reasons to start a rebellion. And that can't happen for fifty more years. No, those aren't getting annoying at all! Keep it up!**

**On with the story!**

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><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

"You know you could've killed yourself, right?" Pewter asks rhetorically as I sit down on the couch seat next to him.

"No; I'm part cat, remember? I did that millions of times back home."

"What did you do this time?" Kalahari asks, walking into the room.

"Jumped off the top of the climbing tree in private sessions," Pewter mumbles.

"Well, you look fine," Kalahari muses. "And I bet that just got you a pretty high score."

"For what?" I ask.

"Bravery. No one else in their right minds would've done that."

"Except maybe Tabitha, if she lived a few more years," Pewter mutters crossly.

"Look, I did what I had to do to stay alive," she meekly defends. "Say your sister was still alive, and it came between you and Calico. What would you do?"

Pewter stays silent.

"I thought so."

The elevator dings, and Fushia walks into the room. Ederne is right behind her. From the looks of it, Ederne has been bothering her for the entire time. Fushia looks completely annoyed and about ready to turn around and slap our escort across the face. I silently root for Fushia to do so. That might knock some sense into her. She doesn't, to my dismay. Instead, she takes the spare couch seat beside me. Kalahari sits down in a one-person seat a few feet away, making Ederne sit by herself. Fushia turns the TV on as the training scores begin getting announced.

Sahara gets an 11 in training, while the rest of the Career pack gets 10's or 9's. That's just great; she'll probably be the leader of them. Shoot. Anyways, the next person that I recognize is Judas, the District 6 boy. He gets an 8 in training. I'll have to remind myself to congratulate him later. Next for scoring is Pewter. He gets a 9. We all congratulate him, and he just nods and comments that's pretty good. I get butterflies in my stomach when the announcer says my name.

"Calico Liberty with a score of… 8."

I… I got an eight? That's great! Everyone begins congratulating me as I slightly blush. I thank them, and Fushia comments that she now has something to work with. Coal's face appears on the screen next. He gets a 6, which Pewter comments could be improved. Daysi gets a 7, which we all nod our heads at and inwardly congratulate her.

Ederne makes us go to sleep early once again. I bet she's glad to be getting rid of us for now since we need to go to sleep. I bet she'll be even gladder when we're in the arena. Before we have to go to our bedrooms, I slip a laxative and a sleeping pill in Ederne's glass. You know, just to see if she can figure out who put it in there. I don't think she'll be able to.

Once I'm in my room, I take a shower that takes about an hour. Twenty minutes of it is actually taking a shower, and the other forty is me trying to get it to stop attacking me. Really, who needs a toenail clipper in a shower?

I step out of the shower with a glare on my face. The shower may have won this time, but I'll get it next time! In the meantime, I slip a yellow nightgown on, towel-dry my hair, and get under the covers of my bed. I fall asleep quickly, dreaming of getting back to District 11 after the Games are over and reuniting with Ethan and Saphira. It feels so real that I hardly notice when I wake up. The image of the District happily welcoming me back sticks in my mind for the next hour as I get ready. I get changed into a simple red t-shirt with a black design on it and a pair of black sweatpants. This is probably as simple as things get in the Capitol.

After brushing my hair and putting my necklace in its rightful place on my neck, I walk outside. I'm the first one awake today, apparently. That sleeping pill must've worked on Ederne pretty well; she's always the first one up. I shrug and find some cereal in the cabinet. I pour some in a bowl, eating it without milk since I don't really need milk with it… and I can't figure out how to get the refrigerator to work.

Pewter is the next to wake up, and Kalahari follows shortly. Ederne still doesn't wake up, and isn't up by the time we are all ready to go down to meet up with our stylists for interview coaching. I'll work with Fushia first, while Pewter is coached by Kalahari. After that, we'll switch (although Pewter will be working with his own stylist, who I've never met.) Kalahari says that our stylists will be substituting for Ederne, who is mysteriously not waking up. I stifle my laughter as they give me an odd look.

"Nothing," I say as Kalahari is about to ask me what's so funny.

"If you say so," she mumbles.

I quietly explain the whole 'laxative-sleeping pill' thing to Pewter as soon as Kalahari looks away. He shakes his head, but doesn't say anything. Instead, I see a small smile come across his face. She leaves me with Fushia as soon as she can, leaving to find an interview angle for Pewter.

Fushia and I spend the first half of the day figuring out how to do the interviews. Fushia has no idea what she's doing apparently, because she states that she's just as clueless as I am. Usually, the stylists pick up coaching after the escorts and mentors have already worked with them. We finally get things under control. By that time it's already 11:00. She instructs me for another hour, constantly telling me to keep a smile on my face and my posture straight.

An hour passes, and before we know it Kalahari is picking us up to take us to lunch. We all eat quickly, not wanting to waste time that could be used on getting ready for our interviews. I'll need all the help I can get, after all. It's not like I'll be able to breeze through the interviews like the District 1 girl did last year. That would take a miracle, and then some. Besides, if I _did _pass them as easily as she did, then everyone would think that I was a fake like she was, and then I'd be in a worse position than I was in originally. That wouldn't be good at all.

Once everyone is done eating, Kalahari takes me back to the Training Center to find my interview angle. Fushia goes back to her design studio to finish up her costume for me. Pewter meets up with his stylist, and they leave us for coaching. Kalahari looks at me, before leaning against the wall.

"So," she says after a minute of silence. "We need to pick an interview angle for you."

"Yeah," I say warily, still not able to fully trust her. "Not anything embarrassing."

"Definitely not," Kalahari agrees. "Last year, my stylist and mentor made my angle be… well, for lack of words, 'flirty.' I hated every minute of it. I won't make you do the same thing."

"Okay then," I breathe, letting out the sigh of relief that I didn't know I was holding. Now I can relax; well, at least a little bit. Frankly, I'm still afraid of her. Either way, if I plan on getting out of the arena alive, I need to be prepared to spend time with her. The Victors of each year are usually paired together in small groups that they usually hang out in when the Victors meet up together. It's usually by year, so unless I would be the beginning of a new group. Which I really doubt.

Kalahari makes me try two or three angles, none of which I grow on. I absolutely refuse the 'nerdy' angle. If anyone could pull that off without being a District 3 Tribute, it'd be Ethan. I'm not smart at all; sure, I have a few larger words in my vocabulary, but most of them I learned from Ethan himself. I couldn't pull it off decently, let alone make people like me because of it. I'd be doomed for sure.

Luckily, my mentor doesn't press me on the subject. Instead, she moves on to another one that pops into her head. I try being absent-minded, but it doesn't work. It seems like my personality is being too stubborn to let me do anything with it. I honestly wish that I could find something that I could pretend to be for a few minutes so that we could move on.

I shake my head after pretending to forget what Kalahari asked (which was how many siblings I had back at home.) When I tell her that this isn't working, she changes tactics.

"All right," she says. "How about we try you just answering questions the way you would answer them back in 11?"

"Um, okay then. But we're not in 11."

"Well, we can pretend we are. How many friends do you have back home?" she asks. I can tell that it isn't an actual interview question.

"Two."

"Hm. Okay then, which one of them is your best friend?"

I give her a brief description of Ethan, and she nods her head in understanding. When I trail off, she says that all I need to do is pretend that I'm talking to him. I guess that this would work. Well, except…

"He would already know all this stuff about me," I point out in a matter-of-fact tone. "We're almost never apart."

"Well, pretend that you're talking to both of- well, you _would_ be able to talk to both of them at the same time, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah," I say. "They're twins."

"Perfect. And does the other one not know very much about you?" Kalahari asks, smiling at the prospect of finding something that she can work with.

"Well, not as much as Ethan does. But Saphira _does _know a bit about me. She probably knows more than I think she does," I inform her.

"I think we've found something to build off of. See, all you need to do is pretend that you're talking to both of them. You'll feel comfortable talking to Ethan, and you'll have information to give Saphira."

_Wow. I hate to admit it, but that is a surprisingly good plan. I just hope it works the way we have it planned. It better, though. The interviews are only a day away and I need to be as prepared as I can._

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><p><strong>Eternity is a long time; whether it is joyful or depressing is entirely up to you.<strong>

**Still can't think of an ending sign,**

**~Dawn101907**


	10. Chapter 10

**Reviews:**

**Gabby Delacour- Thanks! For me, interviews are one of the hardest things to write, but once I think of the right questions for each character to be asked, then it turns into something else entirely. This will probably be my favorite interview to write in my entire writing career. **

**On with the story!**

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><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

"Well, how does it look?" Fushia asks, motioning to my interview outfit.

I take a long look at it, nodding in approval. The dress is a furry leopard-print dress with loose sleeves that reach my elbow. The dress itself only goes down halfway to my knee, but Fushia pulls out some black tights to go with it. The neckline, bottom of the sleeves, and bottom of the dress itself has a string of black cotton sewn onto it. She pulls out a tiger-stripe headband. To my surprise, though, there are small holes in it that are big enough-and in the right spot-for my ears to fit through.

"It's so that your ears can show through, darling," Fushia explains.

"But isn't the point of a headband to cover up my ears?" I ask, tilting my head in confusion.

"No, silly; it's just an accessory."

I nod my head again, pretending to understand. Really, though, I don't.

Fushia tells me to get changed, so I try to do so quickly. It fits perfectly, although I feel as if I'm going to die of the heat. Since it's made of such a warm material, it would be ideal for winter. But, since it's summer, it makes me feel as if I'm burning up. I put up with it for now. I don't want to seem childish and immature.

A few minutes later, we're walking toward the stage where the interviews will take place in about thirty minutes. We have to stand in a single-file line, with me in between Pewter and the District 10 boy Tribute. We don't have to be in a line until they interviews are about to start, so that gives us time to talk with our friends and allies. Pewter and I meet up with Daysi and Coal as they enter the backstage area. Coal just looks at us intimidatingly and storms off to stand by himself and 'observe his opponents' or something. Daysi, on the other hand, comes over to us readily.

"Hi guys," she says.

"Hey Daysi," Pewter greets.

"Hi Daysi!" I say. "Great outfit. A lot better than mine. "

"Thanks," she says, twirling around in her glimmering silver dress.

"Yeah, yours looks a bit warm," Pewter comments. "I think it would be better for winter."

"It would; those were my thoughts exactly," I say.

We talk about how stubborn and hard-headed Coal is until it's time for the interviews to start. Judas joins into our conversation at one point or another. We watch as Judas leaves when the Peacekeeper tells us to be quiet because the interviews are starting. I huff at how bossy he's being, but I don't say anything. Instead, I listen to Onyxi talk about her home onstage.

Time passes slowly as we listen to other people talk about their personal life. Finally, it gets to my turn. I wish everyone luck, knowing that I probably won't see Pewter and Daysi again until the arena. My thoughts race as I walk onto the stage. The interviewer greets me, before jumping right into the questions.

"So Calico, what are your thoughts on the Capitol so far?" he asks.

"Um…" I hesitate.

_Just remember, Calico, pretend you're talking to Ethan. _Well, I'd tell him that it was the worst place I ever visited and that I'd never go back, not even if it would save my life. Okay, um, that won't work. Let's pretend that I'm talking to Ethan and Saphira while President Georgios Snow is listening. If I say something wrong, we'll all be… say, executed. No pressure.

"Well, it's been okay. Certainly different than I'm used to," I add. "I'm just having trouble adjusting."

"Ah, that's been a common problem here in the past twenty-five years," he comments. "But I'm sure the Tributes don't mind. By the way, your outfit looks stunning."

"Um, thanks," I mumble, not sure how to respond to that. _Pretend you're talking to Ethan. _Would he really say that…?

"So, Calico, how was life in District 11?"

"Do you want a brief summary, or do you want unnecessary details that will take five hours?"

"A brief summery would be preferred."

"Okay then; brief summary it is. You all remember Tabitha Stone, the girl who made it to the top 2 with Kalahari, right?" After the crowd applauds, obviously remembering what a great job she did for someone so young, I continue.

"Well, the beginning of her story is also the beginning of mine. You know, Capitol experimented on me using a so-called cancer cure, I grew a cat tail and ears, blah blah blah, you get it. Anyways, this is where the story becomes different, so if you weren't paying before I _highly suggest that you do so now," _I say, directing my attention to a sleeping young man in the front row. I think I recognize him as President Snow's oldest son, Adrian. His three-year-old brother, Coriolanus, sits beside him, and he roughly shoves Adrian in the side to wake him up. Hah, I regret nothing.

"Now that everyone is paying attention," I say, earning a few laughs from the crowd, "I'll continue. So yeah, my parents abandoned me, I raised myself with help of my best friend's parents, and overall had a pretty normal childhood."

"That certainly doesn't _sound _normal."

"It's pretty common in District 11. A place as pampered as the Capitol probably doesn't face as much direct abandonment as the underprivileged outlying Districts."

_Yeah, just pretend you're talking to Ethan. It'll be fine._

"Well then, let's move on. You mentioned your best friend; who is she? Is she supportive of your cat-identity, or does she try to keep hanging out with you at a public minimum to prevent herself from being embarrassed against, say, some crush she has on a guy at school?"

And that, my friends, is how I lost all my dignity, self-control, and potential sponsors on live television.

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><p>I sit backstage, listening to Pewter, Fushia, and Kalahari scold me for attacking the interviewer. All I hear is nonsense. Hey, just because I'm a girl doesn't mean that he is entitled to automatically assume that any and all friends I have are girls as well. Who does he think he is, anyways? Sure, I could've handled the situation in a more respectful way, but he was asking for it. Ederne joins in a few minutes later to take the place of Pewter, who has to go onstage for his interview.<p>

Either way, he also shouldn't be so positive that just because someone is a teenager and a girl that they are crushing on every guy they see. I'm a girl, and _I'm _not crushing on every guy I see. I don't even have a crush on _one _guy.

I think what really got to me, though, was that even after I told him that my best friend was a guy, he didn't even _attempt _to reword the question. Ethan is _not _a girl, and he certainly isn't _like_ _that. _What kind of interviewer is that guy? I don't care if he was lazy or if he was trying to 'keep possibilities open' but either way he needs to be fired and they need to find a better interviewer, and they need to do it soon. Or else they may find his dead body lying in a trash bag. What, I'm just _trying to keep possibilities open._

Seriously, I'm… I'm just ticked off right now. I can't even explain it. Why on earth would he think it was okay to call Ethan a girl and expect me to go along with it? Just… no. I can't… I'm just at a loss for words at how _incredibly stupid _that guy is. He's probably going to enjoy watching me die in the arena. I just got another reason to win. To show that dummy that he isn't the boss of the world.

About what I think would only be halfway through my lecture, I stand up and leave. I'm sick of this, and I want to go to bed. I want to forget about that crappy interviewer and I want to sleep. I want to wake up in District 11 where none of this ever happened and everything is perfect. But that won't happen ever, so I need to stop getting my hopes up. I thought I already did ten years ago. I guess not.

Ederne is about to go after me, probably putting together the fact that _I _was the reason that she woke up at 5:00 in the evening with the effects of the laxative completely covering her bed. I must admit, her face as she screamed and ran out of the room was priceless. No matter why, Kalahari and Fushia hold her back. Well what do you know; I guess my mentor _is _on my side after all. Go figure.

I storm back to the Training Center, jam the button for the 11th floor, and feel myself rushing upward. I was faintly aware of the presence of security guards following me, probably making sure that I didn't attack anyone else, but they're gone now. Once I get to the District 11 floor, I rush into my room and slam the door. I toss and turn, but I can't get to sleep. Instead, I get back up, still in my interview outfit, and press the button for the main floor. I don't know why; I just do.

Once I get down there, I go into the Training Center and grab my claws. I begin slashing at a knife dummy, completely maiming it and pretending that it's the interviewer. I'm not aware of anyone watching me until I hear someone clapping.

"Good job," a voice comments. I jump into the air, spinning around and landing on my feet.

"Judas, what are you doing?" I ask, sighing in relief when I see that it's only him.

"Couldn't sleep. I saw your interview, by the way."

"Oh, really?" I ask. "I bet you think I overreacted, just like everyone else here."

"No, actually I think that you were completely right to act like that," he says.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. My best friend is actually a girl, and that stupid interviewer assumed that she was a guy," he explains, grabbing a knife and throwing it at the place in the wall that the mannequin's fake heart used to be.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Too scared; I was afraid that I'd lose sponsors. They're too valuable to lose, especially if you're from an outlying District. Well, I guess you'd know all about that."

"Yeah, I know. Those sponsors are too concerned about the Careers; making sure that they have enough supplies to keep strong and kill everyone else," I say, chopping the head off another mannequin.

"It's sick. The Capitol is crazy," he mumbles.

"It really is. I wish I could just go back home and forget that any of this ever happened."

"Me too. But it's impossible. There's no way to time-travel unless Districts 3 and 5 are holding out on us."

"Which they probably are. They act too suspicious for their own goods."

"Definitely. It makes you wonder what else they're keeping from us."

By now, we're just stabbing mannequins and goofing off. It helps me clear me mind, though, which is really helpful. By the time we agree that we should be getting back, I've taken all my anger out, cleared my mind, and made it to where President Snow will have to do a full replacement of the Training Center's dummies.

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><p><strong>Next estimated update: January 16, 2015<strong>

**Eternity is a long time; whether it will be joyful or distressing is entirely up to you.**

**Still can't think of an ending sign,**

**~Dawn101907**


	11. Chapter 11

**Reviews:**

**Gabby Delacour: Yeah, I think that this is when they begin the search for a new interviewer. In my other stories that will take place before Caesar begins interviewing, I'm also going to stress how much of a jerk this interviewer is. Either way, that's what happens, so she get a few sponsor gifts here and there in the arena. Also, now you're 7/12ths of the reviews.**

**Spectrobes Princess: Yes, and Coriolanus also needs a nap. For eternity.**

**On with the story!**

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><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

I awaken to Kalahari shaking me awake. I can tell that she's trying to be gentle, but apparently she's not used to it. Deciding to give her the benefit of the doubt, I roll out of bed as I remember that today's arena day. July 11th. The most dreaded day of the year for Tributes and the citizens of the Districts alike.

"Come on, Calico," she says, pulling me up by my hand. "You know what day it is, don't you?"

"Yeah, but I wish I didn't," I mumble, not even half awake.

"Well, you do, so let's not make the Peacekeepers come up here and shot us if we don't get down there," she says.

Finally being able to stand on my own, I grab my necklace off the dresser and follow her out of the room. Since there's really no reason to change, we all just wear whatever we slept in onto the hovercraft and into the stockyard. I'm glad that I wore a plain outfit to bed instead of pajamas. That would be embarrassing.

We meet up with Pewter, who is already waiting for us at the elevator. The ride down the elevator is silent, as is the walk to the hovercraft. When we finally get to the launch pad, Kalahari turns to us and places one of her hands on my shoulder. She places her other hand on Pewter's shoulder.

"This is as far as I can go with you. Good luck to both of you. If you need anything in the arena, I'll be watching from the mentor room. If there's enough sponsor money, I'll help you as best as I can. Some things you'll have to do on your own, but other than that I'll be happy to help."

She turns and walks away with Virtue, who has just dropped off her Tributes as well.

"Come on, we should go find Daysi," he says.

"Yeah, sure," I say with a smirk.

"What are you smirking at?"

"How obvious it is that_ you like Daysi_," I say in a sing-song voice.

"I…I do not!"

"Yeah, _sure_ you don't."

"Hey guys, what'cha talking about?"

"Well, wouldn't you like to know?" I tell Daysi, my smirk growing even wider.

"Um…" she mumbles. "Well, yeah…"

"It's nothing, isn't it Calico?" Pewter asks. I'm about to protest, but Pewter elbows me in the side so I shut up.

"Well, I was wondering…" Daysi begins.

"Hey everyone. Hey _Pewter_," Coal spits, appearing out of nowhere.

"What do you want?" Pewter asks, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh brother, here we go again," Daysi mutters.

The boys begin arguing, and Daysi and I just watch them with amused expressions. I debate on whether I should tell her what we were talking about or not, but I decide against it. Pewter should be able to man up and tell her eventually.

"So, what were you about to say?" I ask her instead.

"Well, I've been thinking, and I-"

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be boarding the hovercraft in approximately five minutes," a monotonous voice says over the intercom.

"Never mind," she sighs. "It's more of a group thing, and I don't think we'll be able to break their thick heads apart for long enough to have a decent conversation. I wouldn't mind leaving Coal out of it, but he's my District partner, and 12 won't want to see me without him in the arena."

I'm about to ask what she means, but Coal interrupts our conversation.

"Daysi! I know what Pewter was talking about!" he calls childishly and loudly.

"Don't you dare!" Pewter growls, tacking Coal to the ground to keep him from getting any closer. Daysi jumps out of the way to avoid being hit by either of them. Coal opens his mouth to talk anyways, but Pewter slaps him hand over Coal's mouth to prevent him from doing so.

"Guys, stop fighting!" Daysi yells over the oblivious chattering of everyone else.

"Yeah, you two need to shape up!" I scold.

They completely ignore us. The thought hits me that, if the Peacekeepers are the ones that break them up, what'll happen? They won't be left unpunished, that's for sure. The Peacekeepers may even make there be new Tributes chosen for the boys of 11 and 12 because these two bumbling idiots have to be executed for interrupting peace. It's almost happened once, too.

Another thought hits me; if the Peacekeepers catch them, what if Ethan is picked to replace Pewter?

Before I have enough time to think about this, an all-too-familiar voice calls through the crowd.

"What's going on over here?" Judas asks, walking over to us curiously. When he sees Pewter and Coal fighting over some randomness that they somehow drifted to, he pulls Pewter off of Coal. Coal sticks his tongue out at Pewter, but Judas steps on his hand.

"Break it up, you two," he says harshly. "What were you fighting about anyways?"

When neither of them answers, Judas narrows his eyes.

"Thought so. If you can't remember what you two were arguing about, it wasn't worth fighting over in the first place. Now apologize, both of you."

The two enemies look at each other, glare, and pointedly turn their backs on each other. Daysi sighs, shaking her head in disbelief.

"What's _their_ problem?" Judas asks, staying in between the two older guys.

"They've been fighting ever since they met," Daysi says. "They're a disaster."

"Seems that way," Judas says. "What are you wearing, anyways?"

I look at him in confusion before realizing that he was talking to Daysi. None of us have noticed what anyone else was wearing until now. All of us except Daysi have apparently either changed out of pajamas or slept in regular clothes in the first place. Even Coal didn't realize what she's wearing, because he bursts out into laughter.

"Footie pajamas?" he gasps between laughs. Daysi takes a step back.

"Sorry, I didn't have time to change, and…"

"Why were you even wearing those, anyways?" he interrupts.

"Because they're comfy, and they're modest," she mumbles, not making any eye contact.

"Well, that's embarrassing. Not only to you, but to _me_ too. I'm your District partner, and your fiancé."

"Not anymore," she says happily.

"Well, it doesn't matter. You should've at least worn _regular_ pajamas so that you wouldn't embarrass the entire District while you're just parading around in _that_."

"I already told you, everything else in my closet is severely immodest."

"Do you think that I would've minded?" he asks in a tone that makes it obvious that it's rhetorical. "In fact, do you think any of the other guys would've minded?"

Judas, who has been trying to hold Pewter back from attacking Coal, now mutters something to Pewter and lets him go, coming over to stand by us. Pewter begins by telling him off, and that's when the full-fledged fight begins. They begin punching, hitting, scratching, and kicking each other, and by the time that we see the Peacekeepers going around and making sure everyone's being peaceful they each have their fair share of bruises.

"That's enough, the Peacekeepers are coming," I warn. Unfortunately, the Peacekeepers can't see over the crowd, and they back up to check something out on the other side of the room. Oops, false alarm.

Pewter immediately backs up, but Coal steps forward and punches him in the nose. Blood comes running out of it as Coal continues attacking him. Daysi tries to step in and stop her District partner, but Pewter holds out his hand to stop her from getting close.

"Peacekeepers!" Judas screams, rushing over to them. I run after him, catching up easily. Wow, District 6 is really slow this year. Or I'm just unusually fast. I've never really noticed or paid attention.

"We need help over here!" I shout as I realize that they aren't even looking at us.

They finish talking to the District 5 girl, turning toward us boredly.

"Yes, what can I help you two with?" one Peacekeeper asks.

"Is there anything that you two men need?"

I stare at them in horror. First my best friend is mistaken for a girl, and now I'm being mistaken for a guy? This is awkward.

"I'm a girl," I say through gritted teeth.

"You are? Sorry, must be the short hair," the Peacekeeper apologizes nonchalantly.

Suddenly becoming furious and fed up with this, I harshly yank my ponytail holder out of my hair. My hair falls over my shoulders, stopping when it almost reaches my waist. Wow, has my hair really grown that much?

The Peacekeeper just nods his head, obviously unamused.

"Calico, don't you remember why we came here in the first place?" Judas reminds gently.

"Oh, right," I say. "The boy from 12 insinuated a fight with the boy from 11."

The Peacekeepers nod, running into the direction of our friends with their batons already raised in defense.

"Really?" Judas asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, technically he started it."

We run back, deciding that we need to catch up. I could catch up on my own, but I decide to stay back with Judas. When we get back, I see an unconscious Pewter being lifted by two Peacekeepers while another hold Coal back. Daysi is sitting down on a bench, obviously shocked beyond belief as she explains her side of the story to yet another Peacekeeper.

Wow, if this is what love does to people, then I want no part of it.

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><p><strong>Next estimated update: January 19, 2015<strong>

**Eternity is a long time; whether it will be joyful or distressing is entirely up to you.**

**Still can't think of an ending sign,**

**~Dawn101907**


	12. Chapter 12

**Reviews:**

**Gabby Delacour: Yeah, that's pretty pathetic and cool at the same time. Well, one of them dies on the first day, and the other dies later. So yeah, they live pretty miserably.**** I might do that at one time or another. Believe me, I've improved a _lot. _Sure, I'm still not the best writer ever, but it's a huge leap from where I used to be. Thanks!**

**meeeeee22: Thank you! I realized how easily a Peacekeeper could mistake her for a boy considering her hairstyle, so it happened. Although, I think that if her friends weren't getting almost beaten to death she would've reacted much more harshly.**

**On with the story!**

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><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

I swing my feet on the bench, thoroughly enjoying the news that we just received. Because of Pewter's injuries, the Games could be postponed for a week at the most. At the least, we'll still be here for two days, but that's very unlikely. To pass the time, the Peacekeepers said that we each had one phone call that we could make to anyone in our District. Most people back home don't have phones or anything, but there's one in the Justice Building. If I want to call anyone, the Peacekeepers will contact the other Peacekeepers in District 11 and escort them to the Justice Building. Sure, Ethan and Saphira may be scared out of their minds by unexpectedly being called to the Justice Building, but it'll hopefully be worth it.

After waiting outside the doctor's office for a while, I get bored and begin to stand up. Yeah, I guess I should feel sorry for Pewter, but he's probably enjoying this as much as I am. This gives him more time to impress Daysi before we go into the arena. The fight between him and Coal was yesterday, after all. I talked to Daysi just after he got whisked away to the infirmary. They're in love with each other. As Saphira puts it, I "ship" them. Whatever that actually means, she refers to it as when she thinks that two people should go on a date.

Just as I stand, however, a doctor exits the room. He immediately assumes that I've been here for only a few moments, which is actually the exact opposite of the truth.

"Perfect timing," he says. "We just got finished doing a checkup on him. He seems to have fractured his wrist, but other than that he'll be fine. He may need to wear a cast until the first week of the arena is over- if he lasts that long."

"So how long will it be until we get into the arena?" I ask.

"It may be tomorrow, it may be a week from now. It all depends on how he reacts to the medication."

My ears twitch in anticipation as he says that. I've never trusted any medicine from the Capitol. The side effects are just too risky, especially if it hasn't been tested before.

The next day, the doctors say that Pewter is reacting greatly to the medicine and that we'll be in the arena by tomorrow afternoon. I cross my arms at this, but I don't fight back. _The sooner we can get into that arena, the sooner I can leave,_ I tell myself. _This'll all be just a memory before you know it._

I walk back to my room in the Training Center, selecting the option on my phone for the District 11 Justice Building. I'm met with silence on the other end, before I can hear the phone ringing. I wait patiently as the Peacekeepers ask who I would like to speak to and if this is my first call. I answer that, yes, this is my first call.

"And who would you like to speak to?" the Peacekeeper asks as I hear her get her communicator ready.

"Ethan and Saphira Stenberg," I say. "They're twins."

"Of course they are," the Peacekeeper says, not really paying attention. After a few moments, I hear her talking to a few other Peacekeepers.

"We need Ethan and Saphira Stenberg. _They're twins," _she says in a mocking voice.

"I can still hear you, y' know."

The Peacekeeper doesn't respond, and I guess that she knew that. Sheesh, I wonder who else is trying to anger me these days. With my luck, probably the entire nation of Panem, but that's just a guess.

A few minutes later, I hear nervous footsteps echo on the metal floor of the Justice Building. Following them are more confident, louder footsteps. I listen for more, but I can't hear anything else. Saphira must be at violin practice again. In fact, she probably doesn't even know I called.

"Hello?" Ethan's voice asks uncertainly.

"Hi, Ethan! This is Calico," I say.

For some reason, I'm surprised that we're actually talking to each other. No one here actually understands me like the twins do. Sure, Pewter and Daysi pretend to. Maybe even Judas. But no matter how hard they try to understand, they haven't practically lived with me for the past thirteen years of my life. They haven't helped raise me, even though they're younger than me (in fact, they're all older than me.) They haven't felt so close to family to me, and at the same time I never get bored of talking and hanging out with them. They haven't suffered through snarky comments and bullying with me. They haven't even gone through half of the things we have together.

"Calico? No way," he adds. "Why aren't you in the arena?"

"My District partner got into a fight with another guy right before we were going to leave," I explain. "He's still recovering from it."

"That's tough," he says. "Still, it's probably a relief to get to procrastinate for a while."

"I'd rather get it over with," I sigh. "It's torture over here. The stupid Capitolites do nothing except shop and chatter aimlessly about what they should wear tomorrow. It's sickening."

"Sounds that way," he says, sighing in agreement. "Let me guess, your oh-so-fancy apartment is right over them?"

"Hey, how did you know? And I don't like it any more than you do. I can't even get a shower without getting maimed. I wouldn't even be bothered with it, but my escort won't shut up about how much I need to 'freshen up,'" I say.

As if on cue, Ederne screeches that if I'm going to lock myself in my room all day, the least I could do is take a shower.

"I hear your point," he mumbles.

"Yeah," I agree. "She's so annoying, and she has no brain whatsoever."

"So when do you have to go into the arena?" he asks, changing the subject.

"Tomorrow."

"Yikes."

I hear a door close, and I almost wonder if Ethan left.

"The Peacekeepers are gone," he explains.

"Oh, that's a relief."

"Yeah, I almost wondered if they were standing here and recording our every word to send back to Panem's beloved President."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they did," I laugh. "Are you sure they didn't hide any cameras?"

"Well, if they did, then I'd say that our President isn't going to hear anything rebellious, because he's as old as dirt. Dirt can't hear anything; it doesn't have ears! And I wouldn't be surprised if Georgios can't hear, because he's completely ignoring Panem and taking everything for himself!" he says, raising his voice rebelliously.

"Ethan, if the Peacekeepers hear you going on like this, they're going to be mad. Who knows what the President would do? Are you asking for your own death sentence?" I ask, wondering when my friend got so stupid.

"Well, someone needs to get it out there. Even if we have to wait fifty years, I want to be a part of the rebellion. President Snow is the one asking for his own death sentence. He's just letting a rebellion form and he's not doing anything about it! I'm glad he's not, though."

"Ethan, just last week you were probably the calmest person in Panem. What's gotten into you?" I ask, becoming worried about him. What if something's wrong?

"Well… sorry, Calico. There's been a lot happening in 11 and I'm kind of stressed. I just…" he begins, but I realize that he thinks he shouldn't tell me anything.

"What is it? Ethan, you know that you can tell me anything," I add.

"Calico, I don't want to make you feel guilty or anything. I know that this was President Snow's fault, I just can't find any evidence that would make everyone else believe it."

"Yeah?" I ask, almost panicking. "What about it?"

"Um… okay. You know how, in your interviews, you kind of got mad and stormed off the stage?" he begins uncertainly. I can tell that he's just as embarrassed by it as I am.

"After almost killing the guy," I add. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"The President thought that that was a sign of rebellion. From what you had already said, he knew that we were close. As in, _really_ close. And…"

Here he trails off. It's not until he doesn't speak for a few minutes that I realize he's crying. This gets me worried. Ethan _never _cries in public. He never cries at all; not when I'm around, anyways. I don't speak for a while, either. As much as I'd like to know what's bothering him, I need to give him time to collect his thoughts. What could be wrong? Did something happen to him? Did something happen to Saphira? To his parents? To his pet turtle? What happened?

"Ethan, are you okay?" I ask after a long time. I'm afraid that the Peacekeepers are going to put a time limit on our call, and he won't have enough time to tell me. If I need to kill the President, I need to know.

"Yeah, I'm… I'm fine. It's just… a few days ago is when it happened. We were all confused, but we thought that it was just a coincidence. He…"

"Ethan, what happened?" I ask. I've never heard my friend sound so upset. It makes me wish that I was back home so I could help them with whatever it is. But I'm not. I'm here, and I can't do anything about it. The thought makes me want to break something- preferably one of someone's bones- but I can't. Not without dealing with the consequences. After a few moments, Ethan responds shakily.

"It's our dad. He's… he's missing."

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><p><strong>Next estimated update: January 28, 2015<strong>

**From now on, all the "estimated update days" are going to probably be closer to "estimates" than anything. I wish I could be on time every day, but when I'm not doing school I'll either be asleep, eating, or writing. I've already had to adjust my writing schedule (which I had planned until March) to allow for less updates and more time between them. By the beginning of April we'll be at Chapter 30, according to the plans. **

**I still think that's pretty good, and that's allowing for four days not updating at all! It's for a sort of camp-thing that my church does every February, and I'm super excited!**

**Eternity is a long time; whether it will be joyful or distressing is entirely up to you.**

**~Dawn101907**


	13. Chapter 13

**Reviews:**

**xQueezlex: Thank you!**

**Gabby Delacour: No, not _all _of her loved ones die, if that's what you're meaning. Although, it wouldn't take much, because there aren't many people in 11 who she talks to. It gets kinda close, though. Thanks!**

**meeeeee22: Me too, even though I know what happens. But my characters have already made it clear that they have other ideas in mind. So I've already reformed one villain and now his name doesn't make as much sense as it should. Don't worry, n****othing bad happens to Saphira... yet. Well, I'm getting, like, over 30 chapters ahead of myself. That's okay, I don't mind reading too much. Thank you!**

**On with the story!**

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><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

As I sit at the table with Kalahari and Ederne, I pick at my food boredly. The pit in my stomach that has been here since my call with Ethan only grows as I think about eating. Why am I here? I should be in 11, helping them look for their dad! But no, instead I'm_ here_ of all places, completely powerless but with enough food on my plate to feed an entire family. This just isn't right.

No matter how much I want to change this, I know I can't. I have even more to fight for now, I guess. I know it was President Snow who made Mr. Stenberg go missing. I have no evidence, but something tells me that it was him. I've never needed evidence, anyways. Even though it would be nice.

"I'm not hungry," I mumble, pushing my chair away from the table and standing up.

I walk to my room and shut the door before anyone can protest. Fighting the urge to blackmail a Peacekeeper to let me have another phone call, I get changed and slip quietly into bed. My thoughts race untamed around my head, leaving me feeling confused and fatigued. I bury myself under my sheets, wondering how everything could be going so wrong. _If I had never lost my temper, Ethan and Saphira would still have their dad._

And then it hits me like a ton of bricks. They'll never see their dad again. President Snow already killed him in his rage. Because he thought I was being rebellious, I just ruined their family. Who knows if their mom saw it and is just not telling them, or if she's as shocked as they are? But the point is that she'll never be the same. She may crawl into her own little world of depression and grief, never to return and leaving her kids to defend themselves. She can't, she just can't! That would be completely unfair; to the twins and to herself, and to me, too, if I ever get out of here.

Even if they find their dad, he may be on the brink of death, dead in the forest, or- by some miracle- alive and well. If he's one of the more likely two, either it's self-explanatory or he may have amnesia or a concussion. He may even be in a coma. No matter what happens, though, I need to be there to help them get through this.

I didn't know I was tired until now, but I yawn and slowly begin drifting off to sleep. My dreams are disturbingly weird. I'm walking through the forest and find President Snow talking to Mr. Stenberg. The latter has multiple cuts and bruises scattering his body, and he looks as if he may faint at any moment. Georgios holds a gun to Mr. Stenberg's head, and says something intelligible from here. Mr. Stenberg begins crying, begging him not to shoot him. Georgios does so anyways. I hide behind a tree as the President passes me and begins walking back to town.

For whatever reason, I decide that following him would be a good idea. Turn after turn, step by step, I trek after the President and hope that I'm not caught. He never turns around, even when I trip and almost fall. Wow, he must be deaf or something.

We get to the town square, where everyone in the District is gathered and talking nervously. President Snow strides up to the stage, and I lose myself in the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen of District 11," he says after tapping on the microphone to get everyone's attention. "I am positive that you are aware by now of the rebellious actions of your female Tribute, Calico Liberty. Rest assured, my fair citizens, that these acts will not go unpunished. I am aware of your undying hatred for her and anyone whom she cares deeply about."

I shudder at his words. What is he trying to do? Is he trying to intimidate me? Because, if so, it isn't working.

"We are unable to locate her parents for punishment, so we have found an… alternative."

I gasp at this as the crowd cheers and applauds. No, they couldn't mean…

As I think this, a group of Peacekeepers march out of the Justice Building. They lead three figures out of the building with them, all bound in handcuffs and chains. Their heads are covered with black sacks so that they would be unidentifiable to common people. I realize who they are immediately.

"I have already…_ disposed of _the fourth one. In my complete humility and humbleness, I sentence these three to death."

I can almost hear Ethan's voice in my head. _Those mean the same thing. He's such an idiot._

The Peacekeepers shove Saphira, Ethan, and their mom forward, making them come dangerously close to the edge of the stage.

"If anyone would like to take their place, please speak up now."

"I would!" I scream, running out of the crowd. He ignores me. Can he really not hear me? What if he can't see me, either? That would explain why he didn't notice me in the forest. But that also means that…

No one else volunteers. I can hear Saphira crying, while her mom tries to comfort her. Ethan sits completely still. I ignore the Peacekeepers blocking the way and literally go right through them. I try to shove President Snow off the stage, but he doesn't move. I punch a Peacekeeper in the arm, trying to loosen his grip on the chains. Nothing happens. I repeat this over and over again, trying to do something to turn the situation around, but I can't. I'm completely helpless against the President. I can do nothing that will change anything. My best friends and my 'mom' will die in front of my very eyes, and I'm completely powerless.

The Peacekeepers put their guns to the three others' heads, aligning them with their skulls. I try to pull Ethan up, knowing that I won't be able to. This time, however, he stands up as I pull on his arm. I try to break the chains away from his, but they're too strong.

"I'm sorry," I whisper to him as I yank on the chains a final time.

"It's okay," he whispers back. "You tried your hardest."

I jolt awake as the gunshots go off.

I throw the covers off of my bed, trying desperately to cool off. I'm completely drenched in sweat, and I breathe heavily to try and calm down. I tell myself over and over again that it was just a dream, but I can't shake the feeling that, if I don't do anything, that will become a reality. Only I won't be there to stop it.

I can't believe that, even though I was actually there in the dream, I couldn't do anything at all to change its course. I rub my eyes, remembering how helpless I was. I thought that I promised myself, a long time ago, that I would never be that helpless again. I remember being all alone on the streets, at the mercy of anyone who happened to have extra food.

I realize that my promise to myself, to prevent my greatest fear from happening, would be harder to keep then I thought.

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><p><strong>Next estimated update: February 1, 2015<strong>

**I would've updated earlier, but... you know, life. On the plus side, I found my phone (which I wasn't aware was missing until a few minutes ago, but apparently it was.) Also, I'm literally counting the days until Feb. 12-15. Oh, by the way, don't expect any updates in that time range. I'll be having a ton of fun and hopefully not drinking a McNasty. You... don't want to know.**

**Eternity is a long time; whether it will be joyful or distressing is entirely up to you.**

**~Dawn101907**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you Spectrobes Princess for the review.**

**On with the story!**

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><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

The next morning, I feel as if I got no sleep. Oh wait, I didn't. This is going to be a long day, though; sleep or no sleep. After all, today is when we all go into the arena… for real this time, too. Well, unless someone else gets hurt, but I think that President Snow won't make any more exceptions.

President Snow. I almost growl just thinking about him. My dream from last night still haunts me. How I couldn't save the people I consider family, and yet think of as friends. I can't forget the feeling when I realized that it was hopeless. There should always be hope, even when the situation leaves no room for hope. Everyone should always at least have a chance.

I guess that I could be accused of being a hypocrite right now, couldn't I? Sahara is pure evil, I'm certain of that. But Kalahari is a different story entirely. I'm not judging the older sister on who she is; I'm stereotyping her based on what she has done. She wanted to see her family again; I want to do the same. If it means killing a 12-year-old, then so be it. As bad as it sounds, I would, unless I personally knew the kid. She didn't know Tabby at all. She's obviously sorry about it, and what I need to do is forgive her. Even though I really, _really _don't want to.

When I leave my room, Ederne tells me that Kalahari is sick, so we have to walk down by ourselves. I'm grateful yet confused at the same time. I still don't want to spend too much time with Kalahari, but I need to for my own good. Right now, I can't choose the people I hang out with, so I may as well get used to it. Oh right, we're going into the arena today, so it doesn't matter much.

"If you're our escort," I begin, raising an eyebrow at Ederne, "then why don't you escort us to the hovercraft?"

Ederne doesn't respond. Instead, she waves us onto the elevator and wishes us luck. She doesn't mean it, though; I can tell by her voice. Pewter and I shrug. The elevator rushes down, and I grip onto the small railings to balance myself. I don't notice that we're not alone on the elevator until Coal clears his throat and mumbles something about pancakes. Really, what does that have to do with anything? On the District 10 floor, Coal storms off the elevator and takes the stairs.

"Well…" Daysi begins awkwardly as the door closes once again.

"What was he saying?" I ask.

"I don't know; something about pancakes, maybe. He hates the food here, and that's what we had for breakfast. Never mind that, how are you guys?"

"We're doing fine," Pewter says. "How are you?"

"As well as I can."

We continue making meaningless chatter as the elevator goes down. A few other Tributes begin stepping on, but upon seeing me they step back off and turn to the stairs. Judas joins in on our conversation once the District 6 floor has passed. Once he gets here, we begin actually talking. We discuss plans for the arena that we've been debating on, getting everyone else's opinions on them. Daysi and Pewter both look like they have something to say, but they keep putting it off. I guess I'll have to wait and see what they need to say.

"So, what do you-"Daysi begins uncertainly. She gets cut off by Judas, who doesn't hear her and begins telling a story on how his escort was trying to keep him and his District partner from getting in trouble and ended up falling into the toilet. Her hair was soaked, and both of the District 6 Tributes and their mentors burst out laughing. Daysi laughs along as if she hadn't been saying anything, but she keeps her mouth shut and doesn't say anything more about what she was going to say.

"So, back to everyone else," Judas laughs. "Pewter, what's your strategy?"

"I don't have a strategy. Stay away from everyone, including you guys, and try to survive, I guess."

"What?" Daysi asks in shock. "Why would you have to stay away from us?"

"Yeah, we're your friends," I say, my tail lashing in annoyance.

"Well, if I hang out with you guys, the Capitol will expect that we start killing each other. I don't want to have to deal with our mentors sending us notes telling us what to do."

"What if we were in an alliance?" Daysi asks.

"…That would never work," Pewter says after a minute.

The elevator opens up to the main floor, and we all step off. Daysi looks at the ground as she walks. Once we get outside she begins mindlessly kicking a pebble. I realize that _that _must've been what she was trying to say to us. It makes perfect sense, with all the times she's begun to say something and then been interrupted.

"I thought it was a good plan," I mumble, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, me too," she replies dejectedly, her voice barely above a whisper.

We walk to the hovercraft in silence. The hovercraft ride is just as silent as before. I haven't really thought about it before, though. Being in an alliance with some people that I kind of trust… that actually doesn't sound so bad. But at the same time, I understand Pewter's perspective of this too. Being on your own is all we've ever been used to. We've never had anyone to watch our backs. We've never had to be the one_ watching_ anyone else's back. But maybe that would be a nice change. I really don't know- I'm torn between the two.

We split up once the hovercraft drops us off at the stockyard. Judas and I both walk in the same direction for a while, but eventually we have to split up and go to our own separate launch pads. We must be starting off close to each other, then. Hopefully we will. We may not be allies, but it would be one less person to have to worry about killing me. And it'll benefit both of us- I won't kill him right away, and he won't kill me right away.

The Peacekeeper stops in front of a door, and motions for me to do the same. He pushes the door open, revealing Fushia waiting for me. He practically shoves me into the room, turns around, and pulls the door tightly closed behind me. I hear a small _click _and footsteps echoing down the hallway. Well _he_ was rude.

Fushia greets me, and I emptily greet her back. The surreal feeling surrounds me as I take my arena suit from her and put it on behind a small curtain. The shirt is short-sleeved and orange, and the collar goes up to my neck. I slip on some black pants and reach for my black jacket.

_Thirty seconds until launch, _a metallic voice says from a speaker mounted on the wall.

"I talked to the Head Gamemaker," Fushia begins as I zip up my jacket.

"Really?" I ask.

"Yes. He said that he found your claws bulky and unnecessary, and he saw no reason to put them in the cornucopia."

She reaches into her pink purse, and pulls out a set of my claws. I take them, putting them securely into a pocket on my jacket.

_Twenty seconds until launch._

"Thank you," I say.

"No need. Just doing my job," she adds. "Although, it would not be wise to use them immediately. Pretend that you stumble upon them by chance in the cornucopia- if you decide to go there, that is."

_Ten seconds until launch._

"You should go," she says. I step into the tube, and it seals shut behind me. My stylist waves back as I zip up to my death.

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><p><strong>Next estimated update: February 4, 2015<strong>

**This update would've been up a few hours from now (not this soon), but _somebody _*glares at my brother* kept us from going to church. Well, I guess I'm overreacting just a little bit, but still...**

**Eternity is a long time; whether it will be joyful or distressing is entirely up to you.**

**~Dawn101907**


	15. Chapter 15

**Reviews:**

**BodoniBold: Thank you! That's kind of Calico's personality; she's always on edge, and ready to get revenge on anyone she has a grudge against.**

**Gabby Delacour: Oh, that stinks. I know the feeling, too. Thanks! Fushia is just fine after the bloodbath, though.**

**On with the story!**

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><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

As I ride up the tube, it reminds me of the elevator in the Capitol. I shake my head to get rid of the thought.

_Focus, Calico. Remember why you're here. _

I look up, wondering how much longer until I stop going up. Darkness welcomes my eyes as far as I can see. An occasional rock stumbles off the wall and hits the side of the tube, but I ignore the clinking sound as best as I can, continuing to look up.

I cough as sand fills my slightly opened mouth. I spit it out, blinking open my eyes that have reflexively shut themselves. The first thing I notice is the blinding sunlight, which makes my eyes shut once again. Forcing them open, I put a hand over my eyes to shield them from the light.

The second think I notice is the sand flying everywhere. The wind picks up the surrounding sand, flinging it every which way. I spit out a few remaining grains of sand, only succeeding in letting more in. I clutch my necklace with my other hand, trying to figure out which way the cornucopia is.

My eyes narrow in confusion as I realize that, if the sand keeps up this intensely, the Capitol won't be able to see what's happening. What's the point of that? Isn't the point of this to watch innocent children fight each other to the death for their own personal amusement? This just sickens me. They won't even be able to see this! That makes it even more pointless.

The glint of metal snaps me out of my thoughts. I turn toward it, seeing that it is none other than the cornucopia. The sunlight reflects off of it so blindingly that it's a wonder that I didn't see it before. Pushing it away, I focus on it and it only. There's supposed to be a holographic image above the cornucopia that shows how much time is left before we run.

Suddenly, the sand stops blowing around, and everything becomes still. A holographic 5 levitates over the cornucopia before it turns into a 4. Four seconds! How does that help?

A horn blares, and everyone dazedly runs off their pedestals. Spitting the remaining sand out of my mouth, I follow them. To one side of me is the boy from 1. To the other side, some random girl. On the other side of the 1 boy, I see Judas running to the cornucopia. I realize that almost every Tribute this year makes the cornucopia their target. About a fourth of the way there, the girl on the other side of me stops, looks around, and flees in the opposite direction. Good idea for her; she couldn't possibly be any older than me, and she looks a lot smaller. Probably a 12-year-old.

I stumble on bare sand, and I realize that this is my chance. I discretely pull the claws out of my pocket, burying them under the sand. Pretending to be confused, I dig for a second and eventually come up with the claws. I hold them up slightly in the air, before putting them in my pocket. Oh yeah, a Gamemaker is _so _going to get fired for this.

As I stand up, I notice that Judas stopped and is now standing beside me.

"You okay?" he asks. "That was a big fall."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say. "Come on, we need to get to the cornucopia."

Forget this nonsense about not having allies.

We both run at top speeds to the cornucopia, getting there mere seconds after the others. I grab a backpack, pulling a strap over one of my shoulders as I look at what else there is. I slash the District 9 male in the arm, effectively making him turn around and face me instead of Judas.

"You better run," I warn him, trying to make my voice as threatening as possible. "Before someone gets hurt."

Like the girl on my side who ran to the forest, he can't be any older than I am. They look similar, too. Same chocolate brown eyes, same flaxen hair…

I snap out of my thoughts as I hear the boy turn around and leave, carrying two backpacks and nothing else. Shrugging away the nagging feeling that he'll probably die before the day is through, I hand Judas a backpack as he picks up a knife. I duck my head as he throws the knife past my shoulder, and I can literally hear it strike someone's bone. Not even a second later, I feel myself being pushed to the ground by a person much stronger than I am. I hit my nose on the ground, striking it against a rock. I fight my way to turn around in an attempt to see who is holding me down.

To my horror, I find my eyes staring into someone else's dead, blank ones. I screech in surprise, shoving the District 10 male off of me and pulling the knife out of his skull. I notice an axe in his hand, which is positioned to where it looks like he was about to hit someone with it.

"Sorry about that," Judas apologizes. "I wasn't expecting that it would do that."

"No apology needed," I reassure him.

He pulls me back up, and I wince when I put pressure on my right ankle. I bite the inside of my lip to keep from screaming again. The next thing I know, Judas is being pinned to the ground by Sahara, who is still very much alive. I feel myself being shoved down by the boy from District 2, but I twist my body around and rake my claws against his nose. Let's see how someone else likes having a bleeding nose.

I feel blood drip off my lip and into my mouth. Wiping it off with my sleeve, I punch the District 5 girl in the shoulder before lunging at Sahara. We fly onto the ground, and I take the element of surprise into its full effect. I get a few blows in, mainly to her face and shoulders, before she truly realizes that she's being pinned down by a _thirteen-year-old._

She reaches for her sword, but I bat it out of her hands. She grabs the knife that was in the District 10 boy's skull from off the ground. Huh, that's odd. Didn't Judas pick that up? Although, I guess he dropped it when he fell. Where is he, anyways?

Before I can answer that question, Sahara brings the knife up to my eye. I barely move my head in time to avoid having my eye stabbed out. Being half-blind is _not _how I want to spend the rest of my life. Instead, the knife jabs the skin above my eyebrow, causing blood to leak out of it. Sahara throws me off of her, ramming me into Judas himself. Both of us get unbalanced, and we tumble to the ground in a complete mess.

"Well, what do we have here?" Sahara asks, an odd glint in her eyes.

The boy Judas was fighting- who I now recognize as the boy from District 4- comes to stand by Sahara's side. The District 1 Tributes appear, as well as the boy from 2 and the girl from 4. That's the entire Career pack this year, unless they have any others.

I run forward to try and get past Sahara, but Judas pulls me back farther into the cornucopia.

"What are you doing?" I hiss as he begins feeling around the wall of the cornucopia.

"I studied this once in school," he mumbles. "There should be a hidden opening somewhere around here."

Of course, District 6, one of the smartest districts out there. I should've known; even if District 11 learned about that one time or another, how would I remember? I don't even pay attention in my favorite subject. Then again, I don't really _have _a favorite subject, so that… that makes a surprising amount of sense, actually.

"What are you two doing back there, running away from your problems? Well _someone _apparently has issues," Sahara says in a sing-song voice. I remember how Saphira would sometimes talk like that without even trying; she would begin talking as if she were about to sing. It didn't sound threatening or anything like Sahara's. Instead, it sounded carefree and light-hearted. She never meant to hurt anyone's feelings by talking like that.

"Maybe you just have _daddy problems."_

Sahara's next words snap me out of my thoughts. It isn't the fact that I never met my father that angers me. Heck, I never even met my mother! But if I did, I don't know what kind of people they would be. Maybe Sahara would be right, and maybe they would be awful people. But maybe they'd be kind and caring, too. But this isn't what bothers me.

"How…" I begin.

How does she know about Ethan's dad disappearing? She knows that I'm practically an orphan- in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the entire nation knew that. But why didn't she point out both of my parents? Because she knows. She knows that there is a family that I am close to. She knows that the father just went missing. She knows it's been troubling me to no extent. I didn't tell her any of this. The only people I've told are the ones I trust, the ones that would never betray me.

"Calico, I've found it! Let's go," Judas whispers anxiously.

I snap myself out of my thoughts, following him out of the secret exit. Apparently, the Careers don't pick up of the fact that we've left. We run as far away from the cornucopia as we can, before eventually resting behind some dead, shriveled-up trees.

Multiple cannons sound in the distance. I don't count them.

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><p><strong>Next estimated update: February 11, 2015<strong>

**I don't think that anything was said in the books about District 6's smarts, but they have to have _some _advantage in the Games. Transportation... kind of a waste of District Specialty.**

**Eternity is a long time; whether it will be joyful or distressing is entirely up to you.**

**~Dawn101907**


	16. Chapter 16

**Since I forgot the disclaimer (or, at least, I'm pretty sure I did) on the first chapter, I'll put it here for now:**

**I don't own Hunger Games, however I own all of the characters in this story so far and the plot (except for the Quarter Quell idea)**

**On with the story!**

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><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

The Careers don't seem too interested in following us. Instead, we watch from a distance as they gather everything that wasn't taken by the other Tributes. This includes a long coil of rope, a few weapons, and more backpacks than we can count. They get everything out of the backpacks, and Sahara gives everyone one of the empty backpacks. They toss the rest of them into the cornucopia. Sahara and her District partner divide the food equally into six piles, one for each member of the Career pack. The Careers then pack each of their backpacks about halfway full with food. They store the rest of their food in the cornucopia, piling them into the other backpacks.

"Well, this is boring," Judas mumbles.

"Yeah, all they're doing is getting their backpacks ready," I agree. "I think we should go somewhere else."

"Okay, where?"

"That's a good question."

I sigh, leaning up against one of the trees. They don't have very many leaves, but they block most of the sun from hitting us. Everywhere around us, there is nothing but sand and a few bushes. This would be an ideal camping spot; we could see all around us and we'd have plenty of warning if anyone was coming. But we're too close to the Careers. This is the first place they'd check.

Just as I'm about to ask Judas his opinion on this, sand blows into my eyes. I shut them just in time to prevent it from being anything serious, but they still sting in pain. I ignore it, instead choosing to slightly open my eyes and try to figure out what's going on. The sandstorm has begun once again. _Great, just great. Now what are we supposed to do?_

"Looks like we're staying here for now," I say quickly.

"Are you kidding me?" Judas asks with a slight smile. "This is perfect! The Careers will probably stay at the cornucopia and wait it out, but they won't be able to see us until the sandstorm is over!"

"Good idea! But, hang on; what if the sandstorm stops when we're in the middle of the desert and the Careers can plainly see us?" I ask skeptically.

"Then we'd better run! Come on, Calico, it's now or never," he says, still positive that it'll work.

Then again, what do we have to lose?

"Okay then," I agree warily. "Lead the way."

The sandstorm ends nearly two hours later. Judas and I have been walking this entire time, and by the looks of it we've gone a long way. We're now in somewhat of a forest, but the ground is still sand. The sand blows right through the leaves, and from what I know, trees can't grow this well in sand, but this is the Capitol we're talking about. Besides, there might be dirt under the sand; that would explain a lot. Either way, it's a long way away from where we used to be, and the Careers didn't even see us.

"See?" Judas teases. "I told you it would work."

He laughs when I don't respond, and I realize that this alliance just might work. It's almost as if I'm talking to Ethan right now…

Eh, almost. I'm not going to get _too _attached to anyone. This is the Hunger Games and there can only be one winner. I intend for that to be me. But I'm sure everyone says that if they're reaped.

We continue walking, and we eventually come to a small clearing. My eyes widen as I see the red-tainted sand and the blood smeared on what seems like every tree.

"Something bad happened here," I mumble.

"Really? I didn't notice," Judas says sarcastically, before changing his voce to be serious. "Yeah, I wonder what it could have been."

I take a few steps forward, wanting to look at a red-stained plant. I feel something tighten around my foot, yanking my body upward. The next thing I know, I'm hanging by my foot, upside-down, from a tree.

"Calico!" Judas calls, rushing over to me.

"Um… hi?" I say, trying to make this less awkward.

I can already feel my blood rushing to my brain, and I lean my head forward to see how close the tree branch is. It's pretty close to my foot. If I could just get up to the tree branch, I could probably untie the knot. Thing is, I can't get up there. I trace the rope back, seeing that it's tied to a small stake in the ground. I won't be able to reach it. Wow, this person would've thought this out a lot. And we've only been in the arena for a few hours; they couldn't've had very much time to set this up.

"I have a plan. Hang on," Judas says before beginning to climb the tree.

"Yeah, okay, that'll be easy. It's not like I'm going anywhere," I mutter crossly. "Do you even know how to untie a knot?"

"Um, kind of."

"You don't, do you?"

"I know how to untie a _few_ knots, but it won't be necessary," Judas says.

"Uh oh," I mumble. "Well, whatever it is, you need to hurry up. The rope is cutting off circulation to my foot and I'm beginning to feel sick."

After a few seconds, my cat ears twitch as I hear someone step on a twig a few yards away.

"And I think that however set this trap might be coming back," I mumble frantically. "Hurry up!"

"Well, you try cutting a rope in half with a knife!" he protests.

"It couldn't be _that _hard."

"Well, it is when the handle has blood on it."

"Yuck!"

I feel the rope loosen, but it still doesn't let me go. At once, I see Judas fall to the ground. Another figure jumps onto the tree branch. The branch slightly bends under his/her weight, but they jump off the branch soon enough that it doesn't break. Judas throws his knife at the figure- which I can now see is a guy- but he dodges it.

After that, they both begin fighting in the shadows of the trees. I can't see who is who, and I don't think that they could recognize each other either. One of them slashes at the other's heart with a weapon of some sort, but the other dodges it and tries to stab the other's arm. I only recognize the other figure when I see a flash of orange, identical to the color of my shirt.

"Hey Pewter, over here!" I call in an attempt to get them to stop fighting.

They both look over to me, and Pewter immediately lets Judas go. He was previously holding the younger boy up by the collar of his shirt, making it hard for him to breathe, but Judas now drops to the ground and begins gasping for air. He looks at me as if I'm crazy, but then realizes that I'm not kidding.

"Calico?" a smaller voice asks from behind a tree. Daysi peeks her head out a second later.

"Yeah, it's me," I say, wincing from the pain in my head. "Can someone get me down from here?"

Pewter wordlessly walks over to me, cutting the rope with a single slice. I land on my hands, and do a backflip to stand upright again. A little trick I learned from Saphira when she took gymnastics class.

"So wait, if you're here, then who was trying to kill you?" Daysi asks.

"Judas wasn't trying to kill me," I say, furrowing my eyes in confusion. "He was trying to get me out of the trap."

"Oops," Pewter mumbles, laughing nervously. "Sorry about that, Judas. I guess I'm a bit protective of my District partner over here."

"You don't say?" Judas asks weakly, still recovering from the fight.

"Are both of you okay?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Pewter says. "I don't know about him, though."

"I'll be fine," Judas reassures us.

"That's a relief. I'll just sit down for a few minutes," I say, sitting down under one of the trees. My headache from hanging upside down for an unspecified amount of time begins to get more bearable almost instantly.

"So, wait, are you two allies?" Pewter asks, before continuing as if I had answered. "I thought we agreed that we wouldn't have allies."

"Okay, first of all we never agreed not to have allies. That was all you. And second, yes, we are allies," I answer, trying to contain my anger for now. It'll only make my headache worse.

"Besides, look who's talking. You said that you weren't going to ally with anyone," Judas points out.

"Who said we're allies?" Daysi defends shyly.

"It's obvious that you two are in an alliance," I say.

"Yes, we're allies," Pewter said. "And this is our campsite."

"Why is it covered in blood?" Judas asks curiously.

"The same reason we're allies," Pewter answers dryly.

We all fall completely silent. Judas and I exchange a look, but that's all we need to do in order to confirm that our suspicions are the same. We both know the answer: Coal Hawthorne.

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><p><strong>Next estimated update: February 16th, 2015<strong>

**Eternity is a long time; whether it will be joyful or distressing is entirely up to you.**

**~Dawn101907**


	17. Chapter 17

**Reviews:**

**Gabby Delacour: Thank you! Are you meaning his last name, or just the fact that he turned against them? If it's the first one, and even if it's not, I think now would be as good of a time as any to mention that Daysi's last name is Everdeen (if I haven't already)**

**Spectrobes-Princess: Thanks**

**Silverthornofriverclan: Thank you so much! I try to make Calico a likeable character. **

**On with the story!**

* * *

><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

That night, the four of us settle down into the clearing for a night's rest. We haven't actually discussed being allies, but I can tell that all of us are thinking the same thing. Even pewter doesn't object to having extra people to take care of. As the oldest, he's probably going to be more of a leader than the rest of us. But, if we were going by age, then I'd have the least authority in this little group of ours. No one will go for that.

I pause from my thoughts to look up at the sky. The Capitol anthem begins playing not even a second later. All of the fallen Tributes and their faces flash in the sky. The boy from 2 first, and then both from 3. After that is the District 5 girl, and then the boy from District 7. The girl from District 8, and then the boy from District 10, and then Coal. That makes eight in total.

Pewter had gotten some food and a sleeping bag from the cornucopia, along with a backpack that no one has gone through yet. We all decide that we should take turns with the sleeping bag, and we let Daysi have the first turn with it. I don't mind sleeping on the ground, anyways. It reminds me more of District 11 than some stuffy sleeping bag does.

After volunteering to take first watch, my District partner climbs a tree to sit in and quickly conceals himself. I've gotta hand it to him; I can hardly tell that he's there. Daysi quickly falls asleep, and so does Judas, but I can't seem to get to sleep. It's not because the ground is so uncomfortable, but instead it's because my mind is whirling with thoughts. My conscience doesn't rest well knowing that someone was murdered on this very ground earlier today. I shake the thought away and try to sleep, but it keeps coming back.

Somehow or another, I find myself waking up. I yawn and rub my eyes. The sunlight is so bright that I would be surprised if I don't become blind in a few days. Hopefully that won't happen, but you can never be too careful. I stand up, brushing the sand and dust off of my clothes. Pewter awakens from his spot near Daysi, and carefully shakes her awake.

_Wait, where's Judas? _

My eyes wander around the clearing. I soon spot him climbing down from a tree, probably from keeping watch. I sigh in reilef. The possibility of making a snarky comment crosses my mind, but I wave it off. Judas has been keeping watch this entire time, and besides, he wouldn't betray us. Would he?

"We need to leave," Judas says, his eyes focusing on Pewter, then Daysi, then me. "Right now."

"Why?" I ask skeptically.

"Well, let's just say that if we don't move, we're going to be getting an unwelcome visit," he mumbles.

I walk past him and leap up onto a tree branch. I continue to climb the tree until I can see all around me, which doesn't take very long. One of the perks of being in an arena like this is that you can see easily. But others can see you easily too, so you have to be careful.

The first thing that I see is Sahara's blonde hair walking straight toward the small clearing. A pack of others follow her closely, obeying her every word. I spot Onyxi's silver hair glistening in the sunlight, and wonder how all the Tributes don't see them coming right away. Second thought, they probably do, but that doesn't matter right now. The Careers look as if they're close, but not close enough to actually see us.

"It's the Careers," I say after I get back on the ground. "You're right, Judas. We have to go."

"Good," Daysi mumbles under her breath. "I'll be glad to leave here."

"Me too," Pewter says, turning around and taking a few steps forward. "Coal's gone, but his threat isn't."

"What do you mean?" Judas asks.

"Before Coal died, he told us that the others were going to come for us. I asked for clarification, and he said that it was exactly who we thought it was," Daysi says, her voice unusually relieved. She always sounded a bit troubled before, but I guess Coal's death took that burden off her shoulders.

"We assumed it was the Careers. But he said that there was another," Pewter begins, clearing his throat and turning back to us before going on. "There's someone else we need to be looking for, and he said that we'll figure it out when we open our eyes."

"That doesn't make any sense," Judas says, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "We can already see."

"I think he meant that the answer is closer than it seems," Daysi says, her eyes suddenly narrowing.

"What do you mean?" I ask, before it dawns on me. They really have the nerve to think…

"It's actually pretty obvious," Pewter snarls, his eyes resting accusingly on the 14-year-old.

"What, you don't really think I'd-"

"Shut your mouth, Carter. You know that you're the only one here that could possibly be a traitor!"

Judas's eyes widen at what I can only guess is his last name. His mouth hangs slightly open, and he takes a small step back. Pewter takes a small step forward, and Judas takes another step back. I look at Daysi for a second, feeling puzzled that she isn't doing anything. She looks unfazed by this. Does… does she agree? It would make a surprising amount of sense, but in the week or so I've known her, I've figured out that she would never be okay with this much violence.

"Hang on a minute," I object, taking enough steps forward that I stand between them. I turn myself toward my District partner, crossing my arms as I do so. "You aren't just going to pick a fight even though you don't have _evidence, _are you?"

"He's acting suspicious enough for me to be worried," Pewter says, his hands clenching into fists.

"Why? How has he been acting suspicious? Tell me, and if it's a good answer then I'll step away."

I can almost feel Judas staring at me like I'm crazy, but I know that it won't come to that. Sure enough, Pewter narrows his eyes, before dropping his hands slightly to his sides.

"I thought as much," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Hey, weren't we supposed to be avoiding the Careers?" Daysi says helpfully.

"Right. Come on, you two," Pewter turns his back on both of us and storms into the cluster of trees. Daysi gives me an apologetic look and follows him. For some reason, though, I don't think she's actually sorry. She certainly wasn't doing anything about this, and it looked as if she would've been fine if Judas had died right here and now.

"Are you okay?" I ask, turning to Judas. I haven't noticed the tears at the corners of his eyes until now.

"No," he mumbles, but he still takes enough steps forward that we stand next to each other. We stay still for a few seconds, both wondering if following Pewter and Daysi would really be the best option. I know what Ethan would say; that it's the best option for now, but we should be ready to flee at any given moment.

"Come on, we should probably catch up before the Careers find us," I say after a moment.

"And follow _them?_ How are you sure that it's safe?" he asks, his eyes widening. I can make a safe guess that it's from fear. Still, I manage a half-smile as we exit the clearing.

"Just call it an instinct."

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><p><strong>Next estimated update: February 19, 2014<strong>

**Eternity is a long time; whether it will be joyful or distressing is entirely up to you.**

**~Dawn101907**


	18. Chapter 18

**Reviews:**

**Gabby Delacour: I'm pretty sure I mentioned that, but that's okay. I probably just planned to mention it but didn't get around to it. Oh well. thanks!**

**Silverthornofriverclan: Thank you! I'm content with just brown hair, but blue hair/silver hair/blonde hair sounds fun too. **

**On with the story!**

* * *

><p><em>Calico's POV<em>

As we walk, Pewter takes the lead, and Daysi falls in behind him. Judas and I both keep our distance from both of them. I'm not sure how much we need to trust anyone after the previous incident, but I know that Pewter shouldn't've just accused Judas of being a traitor like that. It could turn out that Judas _is _a traitor, but as far as we're concerned right now nobody is going to betray us. They have no reason to believe Coal, anyways; he was probably just messing with them one last time.

I wouldn't put it past him.

"Can you believe them?" I ask Judas, keeping my voice just below a whisper. "I wouldn't be surprised if they just kept walking like nothing happened, even if they saw someone bleeding to death."

"Yeah," Judas agrees quietly. "Pewter especially."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say he's completely heartless."

"I can hear you."

"Sorry Pewter," Judas apologizes immediately.

We keep walking, pretending that we didn't say anything. After a few minutes, this gets incredibly boring, but I don't say anything. We're not on good terms with Pewter, and I need to keep my mouth shut or else we're both in big trouble.

"Hey, what was that?" Judas asks, suddenly stopping. I stop beside him, but Pewter and Daysi keep walking.

"The sound of you being a traitor. Nice try, Judas; we're not stupid," Pewter replies nonchalantly.

"No, I really heard something," I say. "Listen."

When I listen for it again, I realize that it isn't really a sound. The earth rumbles, as if it's about to suffer from a massive earthquake. But I know it isn't. It couldn't be. There's been enough action in the Games so far, so the Gamemakers have no reason to make an earthquake.

Before I can make any other assumptions, Judas gets tackled to the ground. I twist my head to see behind me, watching as Sahara lunges past me. She goes right for Pewter's throat, but he narrowly dodges.

"Out of our way!" she spits, shoving past us.

Pewter throws a spear at her, but she leaps out of the way. I watch as Onyxi and both from District 4 surround us, making a sort of square with us inside.

"And if I were you, I wouldn't move even an inch," Sahara adds proudly.

"Why not?" Pewter asks, raising an eyebrow.

Sahara motions for all of us to look behind us. I'm the first one to turn around, which means that I'm the first one to see the boy from District 1's arm wrapped tightly around Judas's neck. His elbow comes to rest right under Judas's chin, and he immediately tries to take a breath and fails. Judas thrashes around, trying to let the older boy set him down, but he uses his other arm to hold onto both of Judas's hands. This makes him unable to move, and he hangs in defeat.

"Let him go," I demand, fighting the urge to rush over and help him.

"Calico, relax. They're not going to hurt their own ally," Pewter says, crossing his arms.

"Ally?" Sahara scoffs. "We'd never ally with such a weakling."

Judas's face begins slowly turning purple.

"Just what you'd say to keep Judas's real identity covered up."

"Want proof that he's not one of us?" Sahara asks, rolling her eyes boredly. "All right, Midas, kill him."

Midas, the District 1 male, immediately smiles at this. He shoves Judas to the ground, and pulls a sword out. He brings the blade down into the sand where Judas's head used to be. Judas, meanwhile, had rolled out of the way and tries to stand up. When he does so, Onyxi blocks his path. She kicks him, making him fall again. My hands clench into fists, unclenching and clenching again as I try to think of a way to help. I look over at my other allies, who have already brought themselves into a fighting stance.

They can take care of themselves.

Before Midas even knew what hit him, I bring my claws out and slash at his back. He falls down, but he unfortunately lands right on Judas. No cannons go off, so I can assume that he'll be all right for now.

I pull Judas up, and he gives me a grateful glance. Before we can say anything, though, an ear-piercing scream cuts through the air. Sahara pulls something out of her hair, but two more of the fuzzy little creatures latch themselves onto her arm. Countless others swarm around us, baring their two rows of teeth as they do so. Daysi takes a step back, and some of them immediately jump onto her. Pewter pries them off, but more of them latch onto him, sending them both flying to the ground.

"Don't move," Judas mumbles. I tighten my grip on Judas's upper arm, wondering if it would be safe to let go. I don't want to risk it.

Pewter and Daysi, hearing Judas's warning, sit completely still. The rats stop, look around, and regroup into a big pack.

"How long do we have to stay here?" Daysi whimpers.

"Until they leave," Sahara mumbles. "I may be tough, but I'm not stupid. These aren't regular kangaroo rats; the Capitol probably altered them."

"Kangaroo rats?" Onyxi asks.

"Yeah. We see them a lot in District 2. They're dying out pretty quickly though, aren't they?"

She turns to her District partner, who nods his head in agreement. We all fall silent, noticing how the kangaroo rats are swishing their tails along the ground. That probably means they're angry or something. We can't anger them any more than we already have, or else we're all going to die.

Suddenly, Midas screams in pain. I watch helplessly as the rats completely cover him, biting into his skin and leaving puncture marks. Blood pours almost endlessly out of these marks. Sahara takes a step forward, before running to her ally and trying helplessly to get the animals off of him. They begin attacking her, too. Every part of me tells me to run, to get away from here, but I don't. I can't. I can't even move, or else I'll die.

Sahara turns around and climbs a tree, hauling Midas with her. She throws all of the rats off of her ally, but more try to jump onto both of them. She stays completely still, while Midas occasionally twitches beside her. They stop, sitting down around the tree. Midas rests his head on Sahara's shoulder, blood dripping onto the ground from his wounds. Every time a drop of blood hits the ground, the rats scatter away from it, try to jump up and attack him some more, and then settle back down.

One of the kangaroo rats turns around and stares right at me, making me shiver just at the sight. Looking closely at it, I see its glowing colorless eyes suddenly stop glowing. A faint shadow casts over the desert. I avert my eyes, looking up at the sky. The sun hides behind a cloud, making me feel cooler than I have in a long time. Two days, to be exact.

Almost too soon, the sun comes back out. The clearing becomes brighter than ever, and the rats' eyes begin to glow again. The one that was looking at me turns its head back around, but stops mid-turn. The sun disappears again, and its eyes stop glowing.

"They get their energy from the sun," Sahara says, the realization dawning on her.

I look up, seeing that this cloud is much larger than the last one. I take an experimental step back, and I don't get attacked. Sahara and Midas climb back down from the tree, but I can see how much trouble Midas is having from here. The Careers all take a few steps back, then turn around and rush away. Midas limps after them, Sahara supporting him. Pewter stands up, helping Daysi stand as he does so. We all turn around and leave the clearing.

Suddenly, I feel myself being pulled backward by my jacket. Some of the kangaroo rats have latched onto it, while the rest are still in the shadow of the tree. I rip my jacket off, thankful for the orange short-sleeved shirt that I have under it. As the sun disappears for the third time, the rats finish shredding my jacket and go completely still.

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><p><strong>Next estimated update: February 23, 2015<strong>

**Eternity is a long time; whether it will be joyful or distressing is entirely up to you.**

**~Dawn101907**


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